Taurua admits late substitution error after Silver Ferns beat Australia
The Silver Ferns coach said she meant to bring Amelia Walmsley on earlier for Grace Nweke during New Zealand’s 62-50 Constellation Cup win in Christchurch.
Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua said she was too slow to bring Amelia Walmsley on for Grace Nweke during New Zealand’s 62-50 win over Australia in Christchurch on 21 October. The result put the Silver Ferns 2-0 ahead in the four-test Constellation Cup series.
Nweke scored 49 goals before Walmsley replaced her with 90 seconds left, the NZ Herald reported. Taurua said after the match that she had intended to make the change sooner. ‘But that was my fault. I should have made the change, but I was a bit slow,’ she said, according to the Herald.
How the Silver Ferns secured the Christchurch win
Australia cut an 11-goal deficit to three by the final break, according to 1News, but New Zealand won the last quarter 17-8. Nweke finished with 49 goals from 52 attempts. The late change left her one goal short of a 50-goal game; the Herald reported that another would have taken her past Irene van Dyk’s record for such performances.
The Herald described strong performances from midcourters Maddy Gordon and Peta Toeava. Toeava recorded 29 feeds on her return to international netball. Taurua called the growing competition for midcourt places a selection ‘headache’, saying she would take everybody if she could.
What the result means for the Constellation Cup
The win was New Zealand’s 12th consecutive home victory over Australia and kept the Silver Ferns unbeaten through nine tests in 2026, according to the Herald. Australia had lost the opener 56-50 in Auckland; 1News reported that Kate Moloney returned from a finger injury for the Christchurch match.
The series now moves to Sydney and Melbourne. Taurua said she wanted to give players across the 18-member squad opportunities in the remaining Constellation Cup matches or the later WM series, with no further international series scheduled before the Netball World Cup. The Herald quoted her saying: ‘It’s all on for Sydney.’
New Zealand can reclaim the Constellation Cup in Sydney on Sunday, 1News reported. It said a sweep of the four-match series would also dislodge Australia from the world No. 1 ranking for the first time since 2013.
Read in depth: Sports
Indiana prepares for Michigan after 22-game winning streak ends
No. 6 Indiana faces its first attempt to rebound from a loss in nearly two years after Ohio State ended its 22-game run. Curt Cignetti says the Hoosiers must recover from a...
Rays reach World Series with trade-built roster and one of MLB’s lowest payrolls
Tampa Bay’s third American League pennant puts its roster strategy in focus: 16 players arrived through trades, according to the Associated Press.
Sources and context
- 'I buggered that up': Dame Noeline Taurua admits coaching error in Silver Ferns winNZ Herald (NZME)
- Silver Ferns defeat Diamonds, edge closer to No.11News
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.