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Gina Crampton gets a pass into Maia Wilson, left, in the Silver Ferns’ win over Wales.
At Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town: Silver Ferns 83 (Maia Wilson: 49/49, Ameliaranne Ekenasio: 15/16, Tiana Metuarau: 4/5, Te Paea Selby-Rickit: 15/17) Wales 34 (Georgia Rowe: 18/21, Phillipa Yarranton: 4/7, Zoe Matthewman: 4/6, Sarie Watkins: 5/6, Nansi Kuti: 3/3) 1Q: 19-8, HT: 40-16, 3Q: 61-22.
Maia Wilson has put her hand up for the vacant Silver Ferns’ starting goal shoot bib with a commanding showing.
Stepping in for the injured Grace Nweke, who was ruled out of the World Cup prior to the game with a partial tear to her patella tendon, Wilson thrived in the Ferns’ 83-34 opening crossover win over Wales on Monday (NZ time).
The 41-test capped Wilson stepped up in Nweke’s absence, landing a perfect 49 from 49 in three quarters before being replaced by Te Paea Selby-Rickit for the final 15 minutes.
Wilson put together a compelling case for the starting goal shoot bib for the rest of the tournament on this performance.
Travelling reserve Tiana Metuarau was called into the playing 12 for the rest of the World Cup. With her mother, former Silver Ferns captain and coach Wai Taumaunu watching from the stands, Metuarau was injected into the game in the third quarter.
Nweke suffered the injury midway through the third quarter in Sunday’s 80-19 rout of Singapore – immediately leaving the court and not returning.
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Silver Ferns wing attack Gina Crampton chases after a loose ball against Wales.
Clearly devastated by the injury news, Nweke remained at the team hotel, not sitting court-side against Wales.
Having comfortably beaten Wales, the Ferns’ attention will quickly shift towards back-to-back games within 17 hours to close out crossover play.
They play hosts South Africa on Thursday (4am NZ time) and then face Jamaica (9pm Thursday 9pm NZT) in a spicy rematch from last year’s Commonwealth Games. The Sunshine Girls crushed the Ferns 67-51 in the semifinals in Birmingham, which won’t be lost on the New Zealand players.
Without Nweke, Wilson got the start at goal shoot alongside skipper Ameliaranne Ekenasio.
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Wales goal shoot Georgia Rowe and Silver Ferns defender Kelly Jury tangle for the ball.
Wilson was the Ferns’ No 1 goal shoot until the emergence of Nweke internationally last year, which forced her into more of a bench role. She was arguably the form goal shoot of the ANZ Premiership with the Stars, finishing as the competition’s most accurate shooter (93.8%).
Handed a starting opportunity against Wales, Wilson made quite the early statement. The 25-year-old converted all 13 of her first quarter attempts with the Ferns shooting a perfect 19 from 19 in the first 15 minutes.
Wilson didn’t miss an attempt in the first half, landing 29 from 29 as the Ferns took a commanding 40-16 advantage into the halftime break.
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Wales goal shoot Georgia Rowe puts up an attempt against the Silver Ferns.
The Ferns will go with a mobile shooting circle without Nweke, relying on movement and quick feeding into their shooters – which could present another challenge for opposition defences.
Ekenasio was forced to take on greater shooting workload in Nweke’s absence and impressed, converting 15 from 16 in her 39 minutes on court.
Nweke’s tournament-ending injury would have been upsetting for the Ferns’ playing group, but they pushed it to one side against Wales.
New Zealand delivered their most polished performance of the Cup so far, after coach Dame Noeline Taurua slated the players after the Singapore win for not being ruthless enough.
Best on court
Take a bow Wilson. With Nweke ruled out for the remainder of the tournament, she made every post a winner, starting at goal shoot. Wilson barely put a foot wrong, landing a perfect 49 from 49 in her three quarters of court time in an assured showing.
The big moment
Wales produced some encouraging play early in the first quarter, trailing 7-5 after the opening six minutes. New Zealand then started to asset their authority to go into the first quarter break 19-8 ahead. An 11-2 start to the second quarter steamrolled Wales pushing the Ferns’ margin to 20. It only got worse from there.
Match rating: 6/10
It briefly looked like Wales might push the Silver Ferns hard with their play in the first five minutes. That didn’t last long with the Ferns too accurate and skilful for the Welsh, who found themselves in a 40-16 hole by halftime.
The big picture
With the opening crossover game out the way, the Ferns can start thinking about a pivotal 17-hour stretch on Thursday (NZT) where they go up against South Africa and then Jamaica. Win both of those games and New Zealand will be top qualifiers from Group G and into the semifinals, playing the second ranked side from Group F.
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