Grace Nweke takes a shot in the New Zealand Silver Ferns v England Roses test 1 of the Taini Jamison Trophy Netball series at Trusts Arena in Auckland. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport
The equation for the Silver Ferns in Porirua on Wednesday night is a straight forward one.
"It's must win. Simple as that," defender Kate Heffernan said.
New Zealand dropped the opening game of the Taini Jamison Trophy to the England Roses 59-58, and need victory in the capital to keep the three test series alive.
However, fresh off a win against world number one Australia, Heffernan said they expect an even better England outfit in test two.
"They showed that in the Diamond series. They had an unreal second game, and they beat the Diamonds, so we know they're going to lift but we are going to lift as well. So we're pretty excited for the challenge."
Coach Dame Noeline Taura conceded it was their high turnover rate which ultimately cost them the game in Auckland.
"We are coughing up ball when it's not on. We've got to be able to reset and go again. That's a clear area. I think we got something like 21 (turnovers) and we'd need to get that under, at least 15 to be competitive."
Dame Noeline said her players are not shying away from the challenge of the do or die situation.
"Pressure is part of it, and it's not taking the negative side out of that. It's relishing the the opportunities that present to us and not kidding around with where our truths are, it's all on for the next one we've got to win this game to keep the trophy alive, which I think is cool for netball."
She said while there were strategic changes she will look to implement such as earlier substitutions and amending their attacking structure to put less reliance on Grace Nweke in the shooter's circle, but more crucially, "it's about keeping ball in hand".
"We've only had 45 minutes out on court, so there's not much time between test one and test two, so we've got to be realistic about that, but we've done enough in our team meeting to put the court out on the floor and see what else we can do."
Heffernan said it was a lack of consistency which cost them on Sunday evening.
"We had a really good lead in but we didn't do what we wanted to do whole game, there isn't any excuse, we know what we needed to do, and it's just being consistent."
The 24-year-old lamented the side's momentary lapses on defence, and loose ball on attack.
"We were really disappointed, we believed we should have won that game, so that was pretty gutting but we are really excited and motivated for the challenge tomorrow to go out there and play the way we know we can for sixty minutes."
