England New Zealand

Another genuine rivalry has emerged in world netball in the past two weeks as the English Roses have proven a consistent thorn in the side of the Silver Ferns.

England yesterday ensured the Taini Jamison series will go to a decider in Hamilton after pulling off a 49-46 win over New Zealand with another gutsy display. Like last week’s series opener in Porirua, the match was tightly contested throughout as England’s ferocity on defence once again troubled the Ferns attack, putting the strain on their links through the court, as well as their shooting accuracy.

While honours are even in this series, the scoreboard for the international season now reads 2-1 in favour of England after the Roses tipped over the Ferns in their Quad Series match-up last month.

It has put Janine Southby’s side under pressure to deliver an emphatic response in Wednesday night’s decider. But so far this season, the Ferns have produced the goods whenever tough questions have been asked of them, and Southby is backing her players to make the necessary adjustments again.

“It’s not a matter of having to get them up for it. I know they will be bitterly disappointed after this one. There are aspects of our game [yesterday] we are not happy with and we will go back and have a look at it,” said Southby.

The area of focus for the Kiwi side will likely be on their attacking links after a far from cohesive display in Napier. The Ferns appeared rattled by the physical intensity of the English defensive effort, led by tenacious midcourter Serena Guthrie and star defender Geva Mentor, who kept star shooter Maria Tutaia to a meagre 50 per cent accuracy rate in her 31 minutes on court. The visitors also did