Silver Ferns coach Waimarama Taumaunu says her side still has plenty of work to do if they're to win next month's Netball World Cup.
Silver Fern captain Casey Kopua Leana de Bruin in their 67-28 over South Africa Photo: PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand beat South Africa 67-28 at Trusts Arena in Auckland to win the Taini Jamison Trophy Series and go unbeaten in their three matches against Fiji and the Proteas.
However Taumaunu concedes they'll need to improve if they're to beat reigning champions, Australia at the World Cup.
"Our offensive penalty count was fairly high, it was great having some Australian umpires because we'll get quite a few of those at the World Cup, so that's something we do need to work on," Taumaunu said.
"We've still got our defenders reaching in a little bit and again, easy penalties that we need to take out of our game and when we get a team that has a lot of their centre pass going to the back runners, I thought we were better tonight but that's something I'd like to improve on again."
After having quite a scare against South Africa in their first test on Sunday in Hamilton, New Zealand started with a full strength line up against Proteas at Trusts Arena in Auckland last night.
In the shooting circle were Bailey Mes and Maria Tutaia, in the mid court were Laura Langman, Kayla Cullen and Grace Rasmussen, while Leana de Bruin and captain Casey Kopua made up the defensive end.
Starting for South Africa were Lenize Potgieter and Maryka Holtzhausen on attack, Erin Burger, Bongiwe Msomi and Precious Mthembu in the mid court plus Karla Mostert and Adele Niemand on defence.
The strong line up paid off for the New Zealand side as they took an early lead in the match, finishing the first quarter 15-8.
Bailey Mes and Maria Tutaia made 31 of their 39 attempts in the first half while Casey Kopua and Leana de Bruin did their best to keep South Africa's Goal Shoot, Lenize Potgieter from getting her hands on the ball early.
The defensive plan seemed to work for the Silver Ferns, South Africa could only manage 15 of their first 23 shots, equating to a 65% success rate.
Going into the second half, with a 31-15 lead, the Silver Ferns made four changes.
Jodi Brown came on for Maria Tutaia, Shannon Francois replaced Grace Rasmussen and Katrina Grant and Phoenix Karaka made up the defensive end while Leana de Bruin and captain Casey Kopua took to the bench.
The South Africans only made one change at half time to their starting line up, Bongiwe Msomi was moved to centre, while Izette Lubbe replaced Erin Burger and went to wing attack.
Malia Paseka came on in the final quarter for Bailey Mes after the Silver Ferns gained a 48-24 lead over South Africa at the end of the third quarter.
The change up front saw the side put on 19 points in the final quarter to take the match 67-28 and the Taini Jamison Trophy.
Waimarama Taumaunu's side now takes a few days off before they fly to Australia on Monday for the Netball World Cup starting next Friday.
