Silver Ferns ready to fire up
It was a match Japan dominated for long periods, although New Zealand were able to grab a foothold in the game either side of halftime. The best you could say about the opening 20 minutes though was the All Whites didn’t concede.
Japan had a host of chances to go one-up, but failed to convert. Shinji Kagawa had the best of them when firing his shot from 12 yards out against the right upright.
Oddly, Japan did their best work from long balls – something you would have backed New Zealand’s big, experienced back three of Andrew Durante, Winston Reid and Michael Boxall to deal with.
Japan’s balls forward were accurate and their superior body positions meant they could bring the ball down easily and layoff to their support players, or flick on for runners to go through on goal.
New Zealand got into the game more and more as the pace of the game slowed in the second part of the half.
They showed small flashes of decent play, but they only had a Wood shot that went over the top from outside the box after 34 minutes to show for it.
Hudson said it was clearly not the start they were after, but was pleased with how his side recovered.
‘‘We can prepare and we can talk all we want, but then the whistle blows and you’re playing a very, very good team like Japan and they start quick and they attack you.
‘‘We actually need to learn how to manage those periods better, but certainly I think after 20 minutes we then started to relax and started to do what we set out to do at the beginning.’’ The Silver Ferns haven’t been given extra instruction to play with greater aggression after being outhustled in the Constellation Cup opener.
New Zealand effectively face a must-win situation in Sunday’s second test at Christchurch’s Horncastle Arena if they have any hope of reclaiming the silverware from Australia for the first time since 2012.
Gunning for redemption after losing in last month’s Quad Series decider, Australia showed increased desperation in Thursday’s first test in Auckland, winning 57-54.
The Diamonds brought the physicality defensively with circle defenders Courtney Bruce and April Brandley proving effective
and player of the match, wing defence Gabi Simpson, frequently disrupting New Zealand’s connections in the midcourt.
Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby said her side were their own worst enemy with some poor decision making and uncharacteristic turnovers under pressure.
Australia were quicker to the loose passes in Auckland and displayed a level of hunger that was lacking in the recent Quad Series.
Southby defended her side’s commitment and intensity in the first test and expected a fierce response in front of what is set to be a sellout crowd of over 5000.
‘‘I don’t think there’s a lack of fire. We have different ways of showing it and it doesn’t have to be that you absolutely smash other people [defensively] to show you are fired up.
‘‘I think we’re different culturally and it manifests itself in different ways. There’s no lack of urgency within this group and I know they’ve identified areas that they know let themselves down as individuals and as a team.’’
Errant passes on attack and a lack of defensive gains crippled the Silver Ferns in the opener with experienced performers, skipper Katrina Grant and centre Shannon Francois, both having quiet showings.
Francois was substituted in the third quarter with her replacement Samantha Sinclair impressing in the second half comeback. Sinclair may have done enough to supplant Francois for the starting centre bib in Christchurch.
Southby said the whole squad had a ‘‘really hard look at themselves, right across the court’’ and had to eradicate sloppy lulls in their game.
‘‘We hold ourselves accountable to our standards and we didn’t play to those standards the other night.
‘‘We didn’t put a full 60 minutes together and we paid the price.’’
New Zealand can ill-afford to allow the three-time reigning World Cup champion Diamonds to get away on them as they did in Auckland, building an eight goal second quarter lead.
The Silver Ferns must also find a way to unsettle the Australian midcourt, who got the better of them, and were able to hit the circle edge and find standout shooter Caitlin Bassett, who converted 39/43.
‘‘We’ve got to do a whole lot of work prior to the ball getting in there. If we focus on one person, we are going to be shot to pieces,’’ Southby said.
‘‘We’ve got to lift our game across the court.’’
Silver Ferns vice captain Maria Tutaia was confident they could bounce back with a performance to be proud of.
‘‘Everyone is still really positive and upbeat and that’s the great thing about this group. None of us have let our heads down.
‘‘We know what we’re capable of. We’ve just got to make sure we go out there and cut out the silly mistakes and we’ll be fine.’’
We've got to lift our game right across the court. Janine Southby
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