Fern-tastic as Southby era launched in style over England
If this is coming.
The Silver Ferns ensured Janine Southby’s first match in charge was one to remember, putting England to the sword at Auckland’s Vector Arena, and shining a bright light on the future with a comfortable 65-39 Quad Series win.
The youthful Ferns belied their inexperience (332 caps to England’s 480) to put on some stunning plays and gel together after just three days’ preparation.
Not bad for a bunch with the new era, keep it an average age of 25. Southby’s fledging combinations blended and embraced a confident style from the opening whistle to crush the English.
Sure, England were average but the attitude of the Ferns to let the ball go was pleasing to see.
There were no stutter steps as the changing of the guard stepped forward.
‘‘I thought we should be able to do it by 10 goals but the way we did it I’m really pleased,’’ Southby said. ‘‘We know it wasn’t perfect but they stuck to the structures. We’ve got some really fit, agile and fast athletes and that’s a real strength of ours, particularly through our midcourt.’’
Shannon Francois, pushed into the starting wing attack role as Grace Rasmussen recovered from illness, grabbed her chance in the first half.
Her energy and feeding vision set the tone for a quality start that saw the Ferns establish a 17-8 first quarter lead.
Katrina Grant, in her first match as the 26th Ferns captain, chimed in alongside Kayla Cullen with a couple of intercepts. You would never have know Grant also fought off illness this week. ‘‘To be honest I didn’t expect that kind of scoreline but we’ll take that,’’ Grant said. ‘‘The girls have been working hard while I’ve been bedridden. Two debutants and such a great performance, I’m incredibly proud.’’
The Ferns were all over England throughout, and the frustration on the face of the likes of visiting shooter Jo Harten was clear. And it only got worse when they went to the sheds trailing 30-18 at the break.
At the shooting end, where Maria Tutaia was missing, Bailey Mes and Ameliaranne combined nicely.
Mes cut the circle, made space and snaffled rebounds; Ekenasio assumed Tutaia’s role of dropping in long bombs with a beautiful shot. Interestingly, the pair shared the shooting load rather evenly (Mes 40/43 and Ekenasio 23/31) until Ekenasio made way in the final quarter.
Jane Watson, called up as a late replacement this week for Anna Harrison, made an immediate impression on debut, despite enjoying just one training session with the Ferns since arriving in Ekenasio camp. Injected for the second half, Watson nabbed three intercepts and linked better with Grant than Phoenix Karaka did in the first spell.
‘‘The urgency and the energy she brings and hunger to get the ball is massive,’’ Soutby said of Watson. ‘‘We’ve seen it over the last couple of years. The big thing in Jane’s game this year is the consistency with which she’s able to do this and to now step it up to the international arena.’’
Earlier, Caitlin Bassett’s starred for Australia as they cruised to a 68-43 win over South Africa.