Australia downed the Silver Ferns by six goals in Christchurch on Tuesday night.
Advertisement
She was the only Diamonds player to start every match at the Netball World Cup.
Captain Casey Kopua says that growth is gaining momentum, as the Silver Ferns gain confidence in their ability to deliver.
The Diamonds then stretched the margin to 26-22 at half-time with Caitlin Bassett dominating the chances at goal.
The Silver Ferns host the Diamonds in Christchurch for Game 1 of the 2015 Constellation Cup.
But it won’t so much be the unflattering record lingering in the minds of the players heading into tomorrow’s match.
“We know how to play a few really good netball, again you can see glimpses of how good we can be, once we put that all together, watch out because it’s going to be pretty impressive”.
“The game plan we have, when we do it, it’s fantastic”, she said. The world champion Diamonds are using the series to kick-off the next four-year cycle, welcoming several new faces into the squad, including youngsters Gabi Simpson, who made her global debut last night, and Gretel Tippett.
Despite the Australian’s status as World Champions, the Silver Ferns are looking settled and set for a strong series, making just the one change to their World Cup side from August, with goal attack Maria Tutaia being replaced by Ameliaranne Wells.
Silver Ferns shooters Bailey Mes and Jodi Brown shot at 90 and 100 percent in the second and third quarters respectively, but only managed 63 percent in the final quarter for an overall 83 percent success rate.
Advertisement
In an effort to give the Australian attack something new to think about, Taumaunu injected young defender Phoenix Karaka into the match for the final period in place of skipper Casey Kopua.
