The Ferns went into Tuesday night's match with a clear focus to improve their game - with shooting and possession highlighted as two areas in particular which needed work.
And the work Silver Ferns coach Noeline Taurua put in with the team in the few days in between each game made a difference.
Goal attack Maria Folau went from converting 22 of 30 shots against England to 94 per cent accuracy against South Africa, converting 35 of 37 attempts. The team focused on retaining the ball with what often didn't necessarily look like the best netball, but was safe play, which ultimately led to a game that was heavily dominated by the Silver Ferns.
The South African side was plagued with injuries in their mid-court. Some of their most experienced players including veteran centre court players Erin Burger and Precious Mthembu were sidelined.
Coach Norma Plummer says she was forced to put a relatively young team on the court and their lack of experience did have an impact on how the team went down.
But, she says, she was not surprised at how the Silver Ferns played saying she "figured they would come out like that" after the team suffered some harsh blows after their loss to England.
"Those players were ready to stand up; they just needed to be given the opportunity."
At the end of the first quarter, the Silver Ferns secured a 17-10 lead which continued to increase throughout the game. By halftime, the score was 30-19 to the Ferns, which stretched to 44-33 at the end of the third quarter before the final score at fulltime of 61-37.
A "rapt" Silver Ferns coach Taurua says the side started and ended strong and the win was a "good start for us".
"One of the key things that we had spoken about was possession of the ball, and even though at times it didn't look like great netball, we actually kept ball in hand so, you know, it's improved performance from England, and I'm happy about that," she says.
"We've come a long way within in a short time, and we've got to celebrate these small improvements," Taurua says.
But there is still plenty of room for improvement, she says, and for the next couple of days, this is where their focus will be.
She says they will be able to gain a lot out of Tuesday's game by recognising areas that worked well and figuring out how those good behaviours can become habit.
"We've got to debrief this game, that's a definite," Taurua says.
From there, the Silver Ferns will go into individual performances with the goal of being "better the next time we take the court".
The Silver Ferns will next play defending champions Australia in the Quad Series final in Melbourne on Sunday.
"We will turn our attention I suppose to Australia towards the end of the week, but at this stage it's just about getting ourselves better, making sure when travelling over to Melbourne that everything we do in regards to recovery and preparation is done as good as it can be."
The game's MVP was the Ferns' Gina Crampton, who said there was a high expectation that the team performed better than they had on Saturday.
"We're definitely making steps in the right direction to looking like we know what we're doing and sticking to our plans and processes and we're definitely trying a few things," Crampton says.
"It was nice to see that we started well and, you know, we didn't drop that lead that we had, we increased it."
