Netball: Silver Ferns shine in opener ahead of crucial clash

Bailey Mes catches a pass against Barbados. Photo / Getty

The Silver Ferns have opened their World Cup campaign in Sydney with a convincing win over Barbados, but the real test of the group's strength will come tomorrow.

Much like the Ferns' pre-World Cup warm-ups against Fiji and South Africa, it was difficult to get a solid gauge of how the new-look line-up is tracking, with the Caribbean side unable to challenge their more experienced rivals for consistent periods.

There were aspects the Ferns were happy with - their centre pass attack and defensive dominance in the final period being two of those. And there were elements they weren't so happy with, such as an untidy attacking effort in the second spell.

But all in all, it's difficult to know whether this side have the goods to challenge the impressive Diamonds outfit, who are red-hot favourites to waltz to their third consecutive title.

The Kiwis meet their transtasman rivals, whom they have not beaten since October 2013, in pool-play tomorrow in a fascinating preview to a potential finals showdown. For New Zealand, it is a tricky proposition - they want to keep their powder dry for later in the tournament, but a big loss to the Diamonds could provide a major dent to the team's confidence.

Silver Ferns coach Waimarama Taumaunu said with the result unlikely to have any bearing on how they progressed, she was approaching tomorrow's round-robin clash much differently than they would a regular test match.

"It's a little bit earlier than we're used to, but we do get another life and that just means you can be a little more thoughtful in your planning," she said.

"We're going to get people on, we're going to keep people as fresh as we can over the next couple of days and we'll see where we are at against Australia. Then we get a rest day, so in some ways it is going to work out quite well for us."

Before tomorrow's clash, the Ferns will have one final chance to finetune their combinations, against Trinidad and Tobago, who play a similar style to that which they encountered last night against Barbados.

While the 73-28 scoreline against the Caribbean side was convincing, there were aspects of New Zealand's performance that were not so.

They started strongly, netting 21-goals in the opening spell as Bailey Mes danced her way around the Barbados defence. But their precision fell away in the second spell, with poor placement into the shooting circle allowing defender Shonette Bruce to disrupt the New Zealand flow.

A third-quarter defensive lapse would also be of concern for Taumaunu. After keeping Barbados to under seven goals for both the opening quarters, the Ferns leaked 11 goals during the third spell as the new defensive pairing of Phoenix Karaka and Leana de Bruin struggled to gel.

It was only in the final quarter, as the Caribbean side tired, that the Ferns looked entirely dominant, outscoring Barbados 19-4 for the period to record a 45-goal win.

With the match marking the World Cup debut of six New Zealand players - Mes, Karaka, Malia Paseka, Grace Rasmussen, Kayla Cullen and Shannon Francois - Taumaunu is expecting a much more settled performance against Trinidad and Tobago today.

Shortly after wrapping up their match, New Zealand captain Casey Kopua led her side back out on court for the official opening ceremony, which was a celebration of netball's development through the ages.

The festivities were followed by the late clash between the hosts and Trinidad and Tobago.

Earlier, England took the court against Scotland under a shadow as news broke that the father of coach Tracey Neville was in a critical condition in hospital in Sydney after a heart attack. He later died.