Fiji netball coach Kate Carpenter says her players need to step up across the board in tonight's one-off test against New Zealand in Porirua.
It's the third time the sides have met this year, with the Silver Ferns winning by 53 and 42 goals during January's Oceania Series in Suva.
The Fiji Pearls have arrived in New Zealand fresh from winning the Pacific Games title in Port Moresby.
The Fiji Pearls netball team. Photo: Facebook / Fiji Netball
But Kate Carpenter says the Silver Ferns will provide a much sterner challenge.
"It was a great week to replicate too what the World Cup will be but also to be successful because we've taken on some hard teams this year and haven't had a lot of wins out of those. [It was] good for confidence but obviously that all changes now and we have to step up because the intensity, the level of the game against the Silver Ferns is something quite different to what we experienced back in Moresby".
Kate Carpenter says Fiji take it as a compliment that New Zealand are hosting them for the first time in 16 years.
Silver Ferns captain Casey Kopua Photo: Photosport
She says the Pearls now know what to expect from the home team but still have plenty of room for improvement.
"Some things work and some things don't but one of the things we need to do better is we just can't afford to perhaps have the same amount of error that we did in the Pacific Games because against the Silver Ferns those opportunities will be converted into goals. That is one of the areas that needs to change as we step up and play higher-ranked teams".
Fiji will also play a Central Selection team in Wellington at the weekend.
