Live Netball Updates: Silver Ferns v England

All the action as the Silver Ferns take on England.

The long wait is over for Silver Ferns to return to the international testing ground.

New Zealand faces England in the first of three Taini Jamison series rounds at Hamilton. The Ferns are coming off a quad series win in which they faced men from New Zealand, New Zealand Under 21 and New Zealand A, coming out with three wins out of four.

The final of those was by far the sweetest: a historic victory over men, the first in history, that will offer a welcome boost of confidence.

Halfway down the court, Sam Winders, who has been called up to the team after a 21-month absence, says he didn’t think they would face a fellow international heavyweight so soon.

“I think a few months ago I would have thought, internationally, if it was going to be happening, I wouldn’t have thought at all, especially not in England … maybe Australia,” he says.

The Silver Ferns have little preparation as they have not played an international game in over nine months, the latest in a Vitality Nations Cup game against Jamaica in London.

On top of that, they still haven’t been able to catch a glimpse of the England team, as the Roses’ preparation games in New Zealand have been behind closed doors.

“We’re going to go in pretty blind,” Winders says. “The first game is going to be the most important, and then we can sit down and take a look.”

Winders will don the black skirt for the first time since January 2019, but admits that if she hadn’t been selected, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

“I’m very happy to be here and I think a lot of that is down to my process and just enjoying the ride itself and not getting too involved in whether or not I made it,” she says.

“Regardless of that, I would be happy and proud of the change I made and enjoying my netball in general. I think it’s a bit more exciting to be able to enjoy some test matches.”

Fortunately, New Zealand will head into the series with some form of competition under its belt, albeit against exhibition teams. While the work has been grueling, Winders says the group is delighted to be playing again.

“It felt like a few weeks ago that ‘here we go, it’s going to be a long job.’ But it’s been amazing, and obviously time flies when you’re having fun because suddenly we’re here and we’re ‘You’re about to play international basketball.

“Last week especially was probably the best preparation we could have had.

“The fact that we had a couple of camps beforehand, we have definitely laid a very solid foundation. We don’t have to think of plans or play structures; we have tested it in real time.”

After tonight’s opening game, the two teams play again on Friday before the series finale on Sunday. All three games take place at the Claudelands Events Center in Hamilton.