1.92-metre Kelly Jury was kept in the midcourt and 1.86-metre Phoenix Karaka on the bench for almost the entire match.
Taurua has explained her reasoning.
“Both Karin and Jane were turning over the ball on the in-circle; Kelly wasn’t or hasn’t been. So height’s not too bad. It’s good when you’re going toe-for-toe but also you’ve got to be able to get ball.”
The only change Taurua made for the match was to replace Watson with Phoenix Karaka at goal keep late in the fourth quarter.
68-test veteran Gina Crampton was left out of the contest entirely, with Whitney Souness preferred at wing attack.
Taurua said she was tempted to make substitutions but the match kept shifting.
“When you take somebody off, it’s not necessarily that you’re taking a weakness off. It brings something else on that may counteract. There are a lot of decisions around it. We were thinking about changes right throughout the match.”
Burger, Kate Heffernan, Ameliaranne Ekenasio and Maia Wilson played big minutes in the draw with South Africa, which ended just over 15 hours before the Jamaica game.
Captain Ekenasio said they were caught napping in the fourth quarter.
“We lost a couple centre passes in a row. We weren’t ready fast enough. I don’t think we were prepared to then commit to what play we wanted to run, so I think we were caught reacting a little bit.”
Ekenasio said there were a couple of moments they let slip.
“We knew we couldn’t play into their hands. We knew we couldn’t let the long, slow, high ball go which is what we were so clear and focussed on. When we went away from that is when we made the mistakes.”
New Zealand kept the contest tight for the first 45 minutes, edging quarters two and three.
Taurua has outlined her list of desired improvements.
“Our ability to split the circle. So one goes and then the other looks at attacking the ball side. I still think we’re getting enough ball defensively. Our turnover-to-score needs to be better and have more purpose in our driving movements.”
Ironically, the result has probably worked out in New Zealand’s favour. They will avoid facing Australia in the semifinals after they were upset 56-55 by England.
The Silver Ferns will play the Roses on Saturday night and the Sunshine Girls will battle the Diamonds on Sunday morning.
Should New Zealand face Jamaica again in the final, Burger said there is a way to counter Fowler’s imposing height advantage.
“We probably just need to make it look open so we actually have flat ball to attack. We need to create things outside for ourselves as well further up in the court. We can’t wait for the last person and expect our goal keepers to come in with the intercept.”
