Proteas impress against Silver Ferns

SPAR Netball Proteas may have lost against the New Zealand Silver Ferns on Sunday, July 26, but they certainly impressed the netball world with their performance.

The Silver Ferns, ranked number two in the world, survived a second-quarter stutter to beat South Africa 68-44 in the first of two tests at the Claudelands Arena in Hamilton.

This was the first time in 16 years that South Africa scored so high against a New Zealand team. In 1999 the Silver Ferns managed a 65-47 victory over South Africa in a test played in Auckland, in the lead up to World Championships played that year in Christchurch.

New Zealand started with the same intensity that featured in their 60-goal win over Fiji three days before. The Silver Ferns blasted out to an early 8-1 lead, helped by two early turnovers, but couldn’t maintain the pressure and the Proteas took the gap and grafted their way back.

Goal shooter Lenize Potgieter, shouldered the attacking burden, sinking all nine of her attempts on goal as her midcourt worked overtime to break New Zealand’s tight defensive zone.

The Silver Ferns converted 16 of their 21 attempts to give the Ferns a 16-9 lead at the first break.

But the wheels fell off in the second quarter as New Zealand’s midcourt struggled to create space and their flow into the attacking third lacked rhythm and timing. The home team failed to find the circle edge, and their feed to goal shooter Bailey Mes and goal attack Jodi Brown grew fractured and erratic.

South Africa’s circle defenders, Adele Niemand and Karla Mostert, forced a series of turnovers and suddenly midway through the quarter the Proteas had closed New Zealand’s lead to just one goal.

A four-goal run right before halftime restored some respectability to the margin, but although New Zealand took a 31-24 lead into the break, the honours had been shared 15-15 in the second quarter.

Silver Ferns coach, Waimarama Taumaunu, brought about new combinations at the half time break and reintroduced Laura Langman to centre in order to open the attack. By the end of the third quarter, New Zealand had re-established midcourt dominance, winning the quarter 21-10 and building up a 52-34 lead.

The Silver Ferns delivered more of the same in the final 15 minutes. Langman was back to her best and controlling the midcourt with precision as New Zealand won the spell 16-10 and the match by a comfortable 24 goals.

A delighted SPAR Proteas coach, Norma Plummer said she was proud of her team’s performance. “In the first quarter the girls were so nervous, they were watching the game and not really involved. It was a big moment for them. But in the second quarter they settled and put in an excellent effort. All in all I am really pleased with my girls.”

It’s only been a couple of weeks since the Australian and multiple world championship winner has taken over the reigns as coach of the SPAR Proteas. “Although I am pretty pleased with the progress since working with the girls, I must say there is a lot of work still to do. It’s been a terrific challenge and the Proteas are a wonderful group of girls. The Proteas need to play at the top level to understand and experience the intensity. The game tonight was really not about the score line it was for the Proteas to gain experience against the Silver Ferns which will help them in their World Cup challenge in Sydney next month.”

Plummer said that by the time the team arrived in Sydney she aimed to have the team performing 10 to 15 percent better.

The second test is scheduled for Tuesday, July 28, in Auckland.