Silver Ferns win still leaves World Cup uncertainty

The Silver Ferns will still need to go through England and Australia to win the World Cup. Photo / Getty

For all the flaws in the Netball World Cup draw - and there are many - the beauty of it is the top four teams all have to play each other at some point in the competition, and in some cases, twice.

After the Silver Ferns stunning 52-47 win over Australia last night, there is now genuine intrigue about how the next week will shape up. There are several more big games to come.

Such is the the gap between the top four nations and the rest of the world, previously the likes of Australia, New Zealand, England and Jamaica could cruise through the tournament without being challenged until the semifinal stage. You could pick those semifinal match-ups before a ball had even passed through the net.

Not so this year.

As the tournament enters the second phase tomorrow, there is still no certainty about who will be facing off in the semifinals.

Casey Kopua told Radio Sport's Rikki Swannell the victory gives the side 'huge confidence'

Taumaunu on the key reasons why New Zealand won

Australian captain Laura Geitz - 'It's a good thing for us to experience'

Australian coach Lisa Alexander - 'We didn't bring our A game'

What we can be pretty certain of however, is to win the title, the Ferns will have to beat both England and Australia in the finals - in what order will depend on what happens over the next few days in the round qualification matches.

But whereas heading into the tournament many had the Ferns pegged for a potential bronze medal play-off, the Silver Ferns are now considered genuine title chances after their impressive win over the Diamonds.

To produce such a confident and assured performance against a team that beat them by an average margin of 12 goals in their five meetings last year showed incredible mental fortitude.

Having snapped a two-year losing streak and escaped the indignity of being the side that racked up a record-equaling 10th straight loss to the Diamonds, you could have forgiven the Ferns had they danced a merry jig on centre court last night.

But the celebrations were kept to minimum. It was a case of a few high fives and sly winks and on to the next one.

Asked what it means for her side, New Zealand coach Waimarama Taumaunu responded simply - "It means we meet Jamaica on Tuesday".

They are rightly playing down by the significance of the win, because they know the tournament is not over yet. Not by a Maria Tutaia-length long shot.