Writers: Ian Harkin, Tobey Keddy
Cover photo: Danny Dalton and Aliesha Vicars
Georgia Doyle and Tobey Keddy discuss the series this week on The Sporting Scoop. Check it out on Spotify and YouTube.
SQUADS
OVERVIEW
Despite heading into the international season under controversial circumstances following the standing down of Noeline Taurua, New Zealand has come away with the Taini Jamison trophy for 2025, defeating South Africa 3-0.
The series began with a dominant 26-goal win to a firing Silver Ferns team in Auckland, and things looked ominous for the visitors, who didn’t have a good record in New Zealand. But an improved showing from Jenny van Dyk’s team saw them narrow the gap to 12 goals in test two in Napier. To that point, that was the closest the Proteas had come to the Silver Ferns on New Zealand soil.
But that record was smashed in test three when South Africa went tantalisingly close to securing victory in Invercargill, only to lose by one goal in the dying seconds. As heart breaking as that result was, it was encouraging for the future, and shows the improvement the Proteas made in the space of just one week. This series as a whole, left both teams with cause for optimism, but also some questions as they prepare for tests against Australia.
FIRST TEST
New Zealand’s dominant display of netball in the first quarter set a precedent for success against South Africa. On attack, the combination of Grace Nweke and Peta Toeava was close to undefendable. Toeava, Maddy Gordon, and Georgia Heffernan were elusive, and whether by threading the needle, or by using accurate lob passes, they gave Nweke repeated easy shots at goal under the post. Sanmarie Visser and Nicola Smith struggled to get anywhere near the high ball, which gave the Ferns confidence to continue with their attacking structures.
At the other end of the court, the pressure that Kelly Jackson exerted, put South African goal shooter Roelene Streutker off her game early in the first quarter. Jackson was able to put pressure on the shot and also get her hand in to deflect the passes into the circle. The overall dominance of the Silver Ferns’ bookends saw the score blowout at the end of the first quarter, to 20-8.
South Africa made several changes heading into the second quarter, having varied levels of success. The moves of Elmere van der Berg into goal shooter and Jamie van Wyk into goal defence saw a turnaround of results. van der Berg became a strong target for the Proteas to feed the ball, using her height and strong movement to keep Jackson busy. At the same time, van Wyk’s deceptiveness and closing speed challenged the New Zealand attack.
Kimiora Poi replaced Toeava at half time, and did a good job firstly at wing attack, then when moved to centre. Meanwhile, Karin Burger was a constant threat in defence for 60 minutes, finishing with five gains, the same number as Jackson. During the game, defender Catherine Hall, and shooter Martina Salmon made their test debuts for New Zealand. Salmon in particular was impressive at goal attack, foreshadowing the role she would play during the rest of the series.
For South Africa, Kamogelo Maseko started at goal attack, but struggled to make an impact. In the fourth quarter, she was brought on at wing attack and sparked the Proteas. As the game wore on, New Zealand’s dominance lessened. Their margin went from 12 goals in the first quarter, to seven, then four, and three. Ultimately, the first half was where the damage was done, and New Zealand ran out big winners in Yvette McCausland-Durie’s first game in charge.
SECOND TEST
Having finished the first test well, South Africa began the second strongly. On attack, they were confident in feeding the ball into Elmere van der Berg and Kamogelo Maseko, while the defence disrupted the ball before the feed into Grace Nweke. Some poor errors early on from New Zealand helped the visitors race to a lead of 10-4. Kelly Jackson helped the Ferns recover, with four gains in the first 15 minutes, but South Africa still went to the first break, up 15-14.
This was the first time New Zealand had lost the first quarter in 10 tests, and they entered the second quarter with a point to prove. Martina Salmon was brought on at goal attack to replace Georgia Heffernan who was shut down by her opposition in the first quarter. This was a winning move as Salmon’s willingness to shoot and her desire to have the ball in hand opened up more and easier attacking options for the Ferns.
Mila Reulu-Buchanan’s feed into Nweke was near-perfect in the second quarter, bombing it in from anywhere with precision. The Silver Ferns won the quarter 20-13, and with the confidence gained from that effort, they continued on, winning the third as well to the tune of 19-14. Peta Toeava, who had started on the bench, came on early in the third quarter and once again showed her feeding prowess, finishing the match with 18 assists in just 29 minutes.
For South Africa, captain Khanyisa Chawane had a solid game, but unfortunately her midcourt partner Tarle Mathe gave up eight turnovers which proved costly. For the second game in a row, the Proteas defenders had no answer to Nweke, who finished with 60 goals and just one turnover. Try as they might, the Proteas were only able to come up with five gains for the game, while Jackson came up with an incredible nine of her own for New Zealand.
The rebound count in this match was extraordinary; 15 to New Zealand and just two to South Africa, making it tough for the Proteas to compete. But they finished the game strongly, losing the final quarter by just one goal to show again that the potential was there. In the last quarter, Filda Vui got on court to make her debut as New Zealand ran out comfortable winners. Having overcome a sluggish start, the Silver Ferns took the match 70-58 to claim the series win.
THIRD TEST
For the second test in a row, South Africa came out firing, and once again, they were helped by an error-riddled New Zealand team early on. The Ferns gave up nine turnovers in the first quarter, under pressure by the Proteas’ defence. The unit was led by Nicola Smith, who used her body positioning to put Grace Nweke off her space, and Shadine van der Merwe, who read Peta Toeava’s play like a book. The Proteas led by four at the first break (12-8), and eight goals was New Zealand’s lowest first quarter score since 2021.
The success continued for South Africa in the second quarter through a strong display in the attacking end. The combination of Elmere van der Berg and Owethu Ngubane was world-class. Their use of speed and court craft to create space against the Ferns’ zone defence generated goals quickly and saw them push the margin out further, ending the first half ahead, 29-23.
A shell shocked New Zealand team, unexpectedly down by six, was always going to fight back. While not at their peak, their ability to increase defensive pressure and offensive efficiency saw them slowly claw back the deficit. Martina Salmon, who had started the match slowly, really found her spark in the third quarter with 12 assists (she finished the match with 28), and the Ferns piled on 18 goals. Things looked ominous for South Africa, but they still held a 43-41 lead going into the final quarter.
The last quarter was dramatic to say the least. Ngubane had given up a total of seven turnovers in the first three quarters, and Nichole Breedt was brought on to replace her. But this change didn’t work well. It wasn’t long before the Silver Ferns had taken the lead. Then Smith, who had earlier been warned, was suspended for two minutes for intentional contact, leaving Jamie van Wyk to defend against two in the circle. Ngubane was eventually brought back on to finish the game.
The Silver Ferns had the lead inside the final three minutes when Kimiora Poi was also sent to the side line. Then with the scores level, van Wyk came up with a crucial touch to give the Proteas the advantage. They scored to go ahead and had the next possession. This was when they made a decision they would rue. With a minute remaining, they chose to try to run down the clock instead of going straight to goal. Sadly, it all came unstuck, and the Ferns pounced gleefully, scoring two goals in the last 21 seconds to snatch an incredible victory 57-56.
SERIES NOTES
There are positives for both sides coming out of this series. New Zealand takes the Taini Jamison Trophy 3-0, but the improvement that South Africa showed in the space of just one week was quite something.
As if we needed any further reminding, Grace Nweke is paramount to the Ferns’ success. Her world-class athleticism and shooting accuracy make her essential, especially during a time when there is a lack of experience in the goal attack position. The accuracy and timing of the feeds into Nweke were crucial in this series. When the feed was on, you could mark down a goal automatically, but when the feed was off, the entire attack end struggled. Her goal haul for the series was 167 from 188 attempts at 89%.
Coming into the series, the one position that looked a real worry for New Zealand was goal attack, with Amelieranne Ekenasio making herself unavailable. But Martina Salmon was the find of the series. Salmon brought a spark of energy, she wanted the ball, and was willing to shoot, forcing the Proteas to think twice about double-marking Nweke. She used flair on the feed and gave Nweke space to bring the best parts of her game to the fore.
Other regular standouts for New Zealand included Kelly Jackson and Maddy Gordon, who continued their strong form from the 2024 international season. Jackson’s long reach over the shot disrupted the Proteas’ shooters all series. Maddy Gordon’s tenacious efforts on both sides of the court were notable, including the game-winning intercept in test three. Both are big-time players, and their dominance in this series was a true testament to their character.
Elmere van der Berg surely has the goal shooter position sewn up for South Africa. Rolene Streutker was given the start in game one, but struggled. Coming on at quarter time to replace her, van der Berg played 11 quarters of solid netball, not giving Streutker another look in. She was strong on the hold, and confident on the shot. She finished the series with 125 goals from 140 attempts at 89%.
The accuracy of all Proteas shooters apart from van der Berg, was a major issue during the series, especially with the lack of rebounds. And there are still question marks over the goal attack and wing attack positions. Coming into this series, coach Jenny van Dyk made it clear she was prepared to utilise her goal attacks at wing attack. And that was what happened. Kamogelo Maseko, better known as a goal attack, spent time at wing attack and was quite impressive. But it seems nobody could nail down either position.
There are some interesting stats coming out of this series. Firstly, both teams’ centre pass to goal rate. South Africa was consistent throughout; 66%, 68%, and 68%. The big difference was New Zealand. As a rule, 80%+ is usually a winning number, and the Ferns were excellent in the first two tests with 84% and 82% centre passes to goal. But that dropped right down to 69% in the 3rd. So, as much as South Africa improved, is it also a case that in the third test, New Zealand just didn’t come up to their own lofty standards from the first two games?
When you look at the defensive stats for the series, some of these make crazy reading. The South African defence struggled big time to win ball. Kelly Jackson on her own, beat the entire Proteas team for gains, intercepts and rebounds. That is certainly something the Proteas will be looking to improve upon as they now head to Australia to play the Diamonds.
