Silver Ferns Parris Mason with England Liv Tchine during game 2 of the Taini Jamison Trophy Photo: Marty Melville
The England Roses fought back after a slow start to the second test of the Taini Jamison Trophy series to claim the silverware with a 59-55 win at the Silver Ferns' fortress of Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua.
Needing victory to keep the three-test series alive, the home side won the first quarter by three goals and took a one goal lead into halftime but let the Roses back into the game in the third quarter and could not catch them in the final period of play.
The Roses have a history of outplaying the Silver Ferns in third quarters and Wednesday night was another example with the visitors scoring six more goals in what proved to be a turning point in the game.
England won the opening test of the series by one goal and the back-to-back wins gave them the trophy for the first time since 2021.
Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio told Sky Sport her side had unraveled in the second half.
"Throughout the whole game we were really struggling to get out centre pass over then I think the pressure that just compounded and they had a really big defensive pressure on us tonight probably even more than we had in the previous game against them."
Ekenasio was "gutted for some many reasons" to lose the series.
"It's an important tournament for us for Taini and for our dress and why we play pretty much.
"So it's going to be tough but we're pretty much going to see what we're made of in this next game our back are against the wall so we will see what people have got and we'll see what individually what we can bring and we can best have each others backs."
England captain Fran Williams told Sky Sport the win was "huge".
"We just always want to savour and celebrate these moments.
"We were maybe a bit scrappy in the way we started the game today but once we got a foothold and bit of momentum I think the attack end just locked in."
Going into game two both sides made a couple of changes.
Midcourt player Claire O'Brien, who made her Silver Ferns debut in the first test in Auckland, was left out of the game day squad and she was replaced in the 12 by Porirua local Whitney Souness in her 44th game for New Zealand.
New Zealand's other debutante from the opening game of the series, Parris Mason, started game two at goal defence.
For England goal attack Berri Neil and centre Amy Carter came into the starting seven.
Both teams made substations earlier than in the first test and late in the game the Silver Ferns had two notable substitutions with goal attack Maia Wilson making her 50th appearance and goal keeper Erena Mikaere taking the court with just over 10 minutes remaining to get her second appearance for New Zealand five years after her first test.
Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua had called on her goal attacks to take some of the scoring load off start goal shoot Grace Nweke and Ekenasio did put more shots in the second test than she did in the first but Nweke with 43 successful shots from 51 attempts was the most prolific of any shooter from either side.
England's goal shoot Liv Tchine scored 41 of the Roses goals and earnt the praise of her captain for her consistency and being a key part of the victory.
Game three will be played in Invercargill on Sunday and it will be the fourth time the two nations have played there.
