Having already secured the Taini Jamison Trophy with back-to-back wins against the Silver Ferns in game one and two of the series, the third and final game saw New Zealand take the win 61-56 against the Vitality Roses.
This series win marked the first time that England has won the Taini Jamison Trophy since 2021, and the first time England has ever won a test series in New Zealand within the first two games.
Vitality Roses Head Coach Jess Thirlby brought Razia Quashie and Ellie Rattu into the starting seven for today’s game, which had a lively start as both teams came out with a clear intent to take the win.
The first defensive gain came through Parris Mason in goal defence for the Silver Ferns, allowing New Zealand to take an early lead. Then England’s defensive pressure won a held ball on the Silver Ferns’ centre pass which Helen Housby converted to a goal from mid-range, beginning to build a narrow lead in the game for the Vitality Roses.
A loose ball was lost off the side line on the Vitality Roses’ centre pass and, swiftly followed by an intercept from Claire O’Brien, the Silver Ferns retook the lead, building some momentum for New Zealand in front of a loud and passionate home crowd.
Grace Nweke was then called for contact against Vitality Roses captain Fran Williams, giving possession back to the Vitality Roses with one minute left to play in the quarter. However, Nweke was able to score on the buzzer, ending the first 15 minutes of play 18-16 to the Silver Ferns.
The start of the second quarter didn’t see any changes to either side, and the Silver Ferns’ defensive end had a lively start after the break, with Mason and Karin Burger both creating disruption in the Vitality Roses’ attacking end.
Allison left the court after a heavy fall, seeing Rattu move to centre and Beth Cobden enter the game at wing defence. Instant impact was made by these changes, with the Vitality Roses creating another held ball call on the Silver Ferns’ centre pass before a long-range feed from Rattu to Liv Tchine allowed the Vitality Roses to take their lead back.
A miss from the Vitality Roses followed, but all seven players on court applied exceptional pressure that held up the Silver Ferns on their transition into attack. Eventually though, New Zealand were able to break through the zone put on by England and captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio scored. Unfortunately an error on the Vitality Roses’ centre pass was then followed by a couple of missed shots and Kelly Jackson was dominant when collecting these rebounds.
A change in the defensive end was made for England as Funmi Fadoju replaced Williams at goal defence. She made an almost immediate impact, forcing another held ball call on the Silver Ferns. However, a turbulent period of play saw possession change hands multiple times in the final minutes of the quarter with no team able to take control of the game. When the half time whistle went the score sat at 32-28.
As the second half started, both teams kept the same seven players on court, and for the Vitality Roses, this was the quarter in the game which saw shooters Housby and Tchine stand up under immense pressure when needed.
With the score at 39-36, Williams replaced Quashie at goal keeper and Allison re-entered the game at centre. England’s defence continued to make it difficult for the Silver Ferns to find a clean route to goal, forcing an error that reduced their lead from five to four goals
After another defensive win from England, Housby scored from range, bringing the goal difference back to two with the Vitality Roses’ centre pass to follow. They quickly closed the gap to one and Tchine then scored right on the buzzer, bringing the quarter to an end with just one goal in it.
At the start of the final quarter the Silver Ferns continued to grow their lead after some critical rebounds secured by Jackson. The Vitality Roses made more changes with ten minutes to play, seeing Jess Shaw enter the game at wing attack, Lois Pearson move to goal attack and Housby move to goal shooter.
Jackson immediately disrupted play between the new shooting combination on court for the Vitality Roses, but Pearson settled into her new position quickly, scoring her first shot of the game to bring the score to 56-49.
Skilful defensive work from Fadoju won the ball back for England before Williams picked up another timely intercept and Pearson converted, bringing the gap down to five goals. Another held ball call followed on the Silver Ferns’ centre pass and Pearson scored from long range, bringing the margin to four with less than four minutes to play.
Despite valiant efforts in defence across the court by the Vitality Roses, the Silver Ferns remained calm and composed to score off their possession and finished the game winners 61-56.
Despite the loss today, the Vitality Roses have won the Taini Jamison Trophy, lifting the trophy for the first time since 2021, and for the first time ever after consecutive wins in the first two games of the series.
Speaking after the match, Vitality Roses captain Fran Williams said: “It’s so special for us as a nation to be able to come here and win the series in the first two tests. That was something we were really looking to achieve and I’m just so proud of how the girls have handled themselves across what’s been a long tour for us and shown up to every test match just giving their all. [I’m] Nothing but proud of how we’ve performed over this series.
“We speak so much about wanting to win and attacking every game to win and I think we did that this series and achieved that with some really new combinations and partnerships and its just a really exciting place to be in England Netball right now. I just can’t wait to see where we’re going to go.”
Vitality Roses Head Coach Jess Thirlby echoed these thoughts, saying: “I think it was another excellent contest, and whilst we’ve fallen short of the win [tonight] I really enjoyed the ebb and flow of the game, the pressure moments, and the fact we still created chances right to the last whistle. We wanted to just make sure that if we weren’t going to take the win that we’d forced them to really work hard for it.
"We had two big objectives both in Australia and here and it was to beat both nations on their home soil and to make sure we grow the experience across this team and we’ve done that in abundance and been able to get results that have most probably pleasantly surprised other people… I think there’s so much learning and over the next few weeks hopefully we can decompress and get ready to hit out against Jamaica as well.”
If you enjoyed watching the Vitality Roses in Australia and New Zealand, don’t miss the chance to see the team playing back on home soil against Jamaica in November. The Vitality Netball Horizon Series comes to Manchester’s AO Arena on 16 and 17 November, you can get tickets here.
Vitality Roses starting seven: Razia Quashie (GK) Fran Williams (GD), Ellie Rattu (WD), Imogen Allison (C), Lois Pearson (WA), Helen Housby (GA), Liv Tchine (GS)
Substitutes: Beth Cobden, Funmi Fadoju Alice Harvey, Berri Neil, Jess Shaw
Silver Ferns starting seven: Grace Nweke (GS), Ameliaranne Ekenasio (GA), Claire O’Brien (WA), Madeline Gordon (C), Karin Burger (WD), Parris Mason (GD), Kelly Jackson (GK)
Substitutes: Kate Heffernan, Erena Mikaere, Kimiora Poi, Amelia Walmsley, Maia Wilson
Image: Michael Bradley
