Parris Mason (left) Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Analysis - The Silver Ferns' starting seven got the job done Sunday night against England and it's likely coach Dame Noeline Taurua will want to test that line-up against Australia.
England were hoping to do what they have never done before - get a series sweep over New Zealand, having won the first two Tests in Auckland and Wellington.
But the Silver Ferns avoided a series whitewash with a 61-56 win in Invercargill.
For the first time in the Taini Jamison series, Dame Noeline didn't make any changes to her starting seven throughout the game.
The player who by far gained the most during the series was newbie Parris Mason.
The 21-year-old played her second consecutive 60 minute game last night, after making her debut in the final minutes of Test one just a week ago.
Mason plays with a determination that evokes memories of Silver Fern great Casey Kopua. Mason actually nabbed a couple of short passes into star England shooter Helen Housby, which is incredibly hard to do.
At goal defence she teamed up well with Pulse team-mate Kelly Jackson, who put out an MVP performance.
Goal defence-wing defence slide Karin Burger, who has switched between the two positions her whole international career, played wing defence, which meant the highly rated Kate Heffernan was on the bench.
Maddy Gordon is starting to really consolidate her position as the starting centre for New Zealand, while recent debutant Claire O'Brien provided stability at wing attack, playing her first full match in the black dress last night.
Maddy Gordon Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Dame Noeline had 13 players available for the Roses series but will have to cut the side to 12 before the Constellation Cup against Australia later this month.
She went into the England series with an extra midcourter, so Kimiora Poi might not make the cut.
If veteran defender Phoenix Karaka has recovered from recent illness, which ruled her out of the series, she is likely to replace late call-up Erena Mikaere.
For the first time since 2019 Mikaere got a few minutes on court in Test two, which is a remarkable feat. But the 36-year-old struggled to control her aggression and was quickly recalled to the bench.
The Silver Ferns coach was full of praise for the amount of ball the defensive end won on Sunday night. Across the series they have kept New Zealand in the game at times.
With goal shooter Grace Nweke being such a weapon, and Ameliaranne Ekenasio a fantastic long range shooter at goal attack, it feels like the Silver Ferns should be doing better.
But a common problem throughout the series was the difficulty in getting the ball from the midcourt to the New Zealand shooting circle and that's an area the coaching team will have to focus on.
Last night the vision into Nweke, who had an outstanding game, was better. Nweke scored 48 goals at 92 percent.
Having won a Test on Australian soil against the world number one Diamonds, then a series in New Zealand, the England Roses have definitely made world netball more interesting.
Roses coach Jess Thirlby might regret not starting the final Test with Fran Williams at goal keep, which had worked so well in the first two matches.
But she was thrilled with how much progress her side had made.
"To have been able to achieve what we've done is quite miraculous really. Especially given the losses of Eleanor Cardwell and Natalie Metcalf so early on in the tour. We came here with them so it kind of altered everything so for people to make that transition so seamlessly and then to be able to back that up game after game ...I couldn't be more impressed with that."
"We started with a different line up [last night], introduced players that have never played New Zealand before and to still come within a margin of five I think is something we can still be very proud of and we took them right to the end of the game and that's something that shows real improvement for an evolving team," Thirlby said.
Housby showed her class across the series and it was obvious she's got years of playing in the Australian domestic league under her belt.
But the scary thing from the Silver Ferns point of view is that England Netball is now producing players within their own country, who are highly competitive as soon as they hit the international arena.
The first test of the Constellation Cup is 20 October.
