New Zealand 102
PNG 21
New Zealand romped to an effortless century on the opening day of the Commonwealth Games.
As expected, the Silver Ferns mixed up their combinations in what amounted to a barely opposed training run against Papua New Guinea.
Played out in a cavernous Thyagaraj Stadium that was so empty you could
hear the coaches shuffling their papers, the biggest surprise was the sight of Temepara George on the sidelines, looking decidedly unwell.
Coach Ruth Aitken did not go so far as to call it Delhi Belly and said the centre should be okay to face the Cook Islands later today.
"She's not quite herself today, but she'll be fine," Aitken said.
Tickets have been hard to shift for these Games, hardly surprising given the mass of negative publicity. The crowds are expected to swell as the tournament progresses, but the early rounds of netball will be played out in a maudlin atmosphere.
Aitken professed herself pleased with the exercise and was happy that, George excepted, she was able to run out most of her combinations. A sloppy final quarter was about the only mosquito in the ointment.
"I was disappointed we didn't finish as strongly as I would have liked. We need to play for 60 minutes," she said.
In the interests of nitpicking, the Silver Ferns accumulated four errors, a number that had swelled to 16 by game's end, in an otherwise dominant first quarter that saw them lead 33-6.
One of those was made by goal attack Grace Rasmussen, who otherwise looked the part in combination with Irene van Dyk, fresh from her flag-bearing exertions.
Rasmussen departed at quarter time, the only change as Aitken ran out Maria Tutaia.
Whether by coincidence or not, New Zealand lost some fluency through the attacking third and they added just 24 goals to lead 57-12 at the break.
Aitken rang the changes for the second half. Daneka Wipiiti replaced Van Dyk, who yesterday equalled Lesley Rumball's record 110-test mark, Anna Scarlett came on for Katrina Grant, Rasmussen returned at wing attack, and Liana Barrett-Chase moved in to centre to take over from Laura Langman.
Leana de Bruin got some game time in the final quarter as Casey Williams rested.
Rasmussen, playing just her fifth test, was pleased to get the opportunity to try on a couple of bibs. "I've settled in to goal attack; that's where I've been playing and have been practising my movements, but I'm stoked to get a run at wing attack," she said. Aitken said she would continue to run through various combinations against the Cooks, before settling on her best side to meet England in their crunch pool match on Thursday.
In the earlier game, Australia accounted for Samoa 76-39 without ever coming close to their fluent best.
Coach Norma Plummer worked through various combinations, but will still be a little alarmed by her side's sluggish start.
It wasn't until the five-minute period before halftime that Australia pulled away, moving into the halftime break 32-19 ahead.
"We knew Samoa could run with us pretty well; they have some talented athletes," said Plummer.
Plummer was pleased overall, however, saying it was a good first-up performance and it gave all 12 players the opportunity for some game time.
"I just wanted to get everybody out there and let them know they're now in a competition."
The Australian coach was particularly pleased with the input of goal keep Laura Geitz when she came on at halftime, and with the team's 90 per cent shooting accuracy.
Samoa captain Frances Solia was reasonably pleased with her side. "We are young and capable but need a lot of time to develop."
