Dame Noeline Taurua is netball royalty. Not only in name but also performance having masterminded New Zealand’s charge to the Netball World Cup title in Liverpool four years ago.
But now she has the enviable task of formulating a defence of the crown — a feat that has only been achieved by 11-times champions Australia before.
Taurua, though, has adopted a philosophical approach with her team in order not to place them under any undue pressure heading into the much-anticipated start of the Netball World Cup on Friday in Cape Town.
Cape Town welcomes 🇳🇿 @NetballNZ , defending champions of the NWC (Liverpool, 2019), ahead of the 2023 edition of the tournament!🤩
— Netball World Cup (@NetballWorldCup) July 24, 2023
New Zealand is in Pool D where they come up against 🇺🇬Uganda, 🇹🇹Trinidad & Tobago and 🇸🇬Singapore, ahead of the knockout stages.
📸Grant Pitcher pic.twitter.com/H1hqC1yav3
“We’re not saying that we’re defending the Cup. Our take is that we don’t own the Cup, the Cup has left our shores and come to South Africa,” the Silver Ferns coach told IOL Sport on Tuesday.
“We might sound like we’re playing with words but everybody has the opportunity to win the Cup. Our mindset coming here is to just try to win every game and be best prepared as possible. To some degree it makes it feel lighter for us.”
Much of Taurua’s approach is due to the fact that the Silver Ferns are undergoing a transition phase having lost the bulk of their 2019 Netball World Cup-winning squad to retirement.
The 55-year-old has therefore spent months monitoring the local circuit back home in New Zealand to ensure that her succession planning will come to fruition over the next fortnight at the foot of Table Mountain.
“We are 350 caps less, we had a few fossils in that team (in 2019),” she said.
“Last time out we had players with over 100 caps. Our biggest capped player is now just about 60, so we’ve got a few younger players coming through.
“But we are really excited about that. There are a few more mature ladies on the team still, but there’s a youthful energy coming through which is way different to 2019.”
The Silver Ferns are fairly familiar with conditions in South Africa having been down at the tip of Africa just a few months back for a Quadrangular Tournament including the hosts, arch-rivals Australia and England.
Taurua believes this experience, along with the added benefit of having a “local” in their squad in the form of South African-born Karin Burger, will give the Silver Ferns an extra edge.
“Coming back to the Southern Sun, it feels like we were here just yesterday, having been here back in January too. We are very familiar with the venue, we’re comfortable,” she said.
“She (Burger) came to New Zealand when she was young, and she’s had to carve her own way as an individual leaving her family back in South Africa.
“South Africans are very tough. Mentally and physically tough. She’s a hard-worker.
“She brings over those qualities, and in a high-performance environment in New Zealand, those are the qualities that we embrace. Saying that, she’s also embraced our culture, and she’s really helped with the younger players who haven’t been to South Africa before. We just follow her.”
IOL Sport