Collective responsibility key as Ferns aim to hit back tonight against South Africa
Maria Folau has defended her shooting performance during the national side’s monumental opening loss to England in the Quad Series. In their first outing since the Commonwealth Games, the Ferns went down 52-39 at the Spark Arena, their biggest defeat to the Roses.
With the defensive unit in sublime form, despite the loss of the injured Temalisi Fakahokotau, the inaccuracy of Folau and Ameliaranne Ekenasio proved costly, and new coach Noeline Taurua didn’t spare the shooters in her assessment.
New Zealand had five more attempts on goal than England, but made just 68 per cent of them. Not good enough insisted Taurua.
But on the eve of their second game against South Africa in Tauranga tonight, Folau, who scored from 22 of 30 attempts, insisted the loss was due to a number of issues across the court.
“There are five other players on court that need to take responsibility for what we do,” Folau told the Herald.
“We just had an off day, that’s all. If you look at it as a whole, there were things that happened across the whole court. It’s a team sport.
“As someone who’s been there for a long time, you’re always going to feel responsible, but we all feel responsible actually.
“The ball didn’t go our way and the English defenders did a really good job at putting the pressure on us.”
Folau shot alongside Ekenasio and Te Paea Selby-Rickit before taking a New Zealand v South Africa, Tauranga, 7.30pm tonight
seat on the bench in the final quarter.
Meanwhile, Bailey Mes, Maia Wilson and debutant Aliyah Dunn all watched from the sideline, raising questions about whether Taurua could introduce a fresh starting seven tonight.
Keen to continue testing and assessing her new side, Taurua didn’t rule out the use of fresh legs in the shooting circle and said the England loss had given her plenty to ponder.
“I think it gives us an opportunity to slightly tweak some of the combinations,” Taurua said.
“I was very clear about what England posed, plus also I really want to build a spine in the team.
“I’m getting clearer on where those positions are and the personnel within those roles. I’d love to get everybody on; it has always been the intention over Quad and also the Constellation Cup that I give opportunities to players.”
Adamant New Zealand’s rough start was just a bad day at the office, Folau was optimistic about the remainder of the series.
“I think there were some great things out on court considering all the changes, brand new team, brand new coach . . . although the loss was very rough, we know it’s just the beginning.
“We’ve just got to get on with it. We’re allowed to have an off day on court, everybody has their off days . . . we know we can do a lot better,” said Folau.