The Silver Ferns have ended 2025 on a high with a series-deciding 55-49 win over the England Roses on Thursday morning (NZ time).
It was a back-and-forth match at Manchester's AO Arena with the lead changing several times and neither team achieving much fluency.
In her final game in charge, interim coach Yvette McCausland-Durie stuck with the same seven throughout after the Silver Ferns suffered illness within the camp.
The team began on the back foot, losing the first quarter 11-14, before coming back to win the remaining quarters, including the all-important third – the team’s nemesis in recent times.
England’s use of four different shooters couldn't change the outcome.
With a four-goal lead heading into the final quarter – thanks in large part to the defensive efforts of Kelly Jackson and shooting of Grace Nweke – the Silver Ferns won their ninth of 12 games in the space of a few short weeks.
The victory sealed a 2-1 series win on a Northern Tour at the end of a tumultuous season for NZ’s national netball team.
Head coach Dame Noeline Taurua will retake the reins after the summer break.
She was reinstated in late October after a controversial two-month suspension by Netball NZ following complaints from some players about team culture.
Asked on Breakfast in early November if she felt vindicated by the reinstatement, Taurua said there was "a long way to go".
She said she felt "100% support from the players and the team".
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