What a difference a week makes.
Seven days ago, New Zealand was in despair, mourning the loss of a Cricket World Cup final that will go down as one of the most dramatic in history.
But on Monday the country awoke to news that swept away much of that grief. The Silver Ferns defeated old foes Australia in the Netball World Cup final in England in a thrilling match, which the New Zealand team won by a single point.
In the final quarter of the nail-biting game, the Ferns managed to creep their lead out to four goals, however, in the dying minutes the Diamonds pulled it back to just one.
Ecstatic New Zealand fans said the victory helped “heal the wound” of a “crushing defeat” in the Cricket World Cup final to England last week.
The disparity in the financial return for the two teams was not lost of New Zealanders, however. The Black Caps cricket team pocketed $3m for coming second, whereas there is no prize money for the Netball World Cup, and the Silver Ferns will likely get nothing for their win.
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, was up at 4am New Zealand time to watch the final.
“The Silver Ferns deserve huge recognition for not only that final, but for their World Cup performance,” she said.
“You could see their heart and soul went into that last match and the whole tournament. It was an amazing final to watch.”
New Zealand national cricket veteran Ross Taylor passed on his congratulations.
The All Blacks rugby team also made their support known as they flew back from a Test match against Argentina. Team members were photographed standing around Sam Cane’s smartphone, so they could watch a live stream of the match.
All Blacks, Steve Hansen huddle around tiny phone to watch moment Silver Ferns win World Cuphttps://t.co/7vJ14SXocd pic.twitter.com/pXHHJgPD7K
— 1 NEWS - Sport (@1NewsSportNZ) July 21, 2019
Veteran Silver Fern Casey Kopua, whose intercept with nine minutes left on the clock helped secure the team’s victory, held her three-year-old daughter Maia, while being awarded player of the match.
“When you’ve got the belief like that, there’s nothing that can stop you,” said Kopua, who, at 34, is a self-described “fossil” of the team, as Maia started licking sweat off her mother’s shoulder, in an interview that sparked delight online.
Kopua and fellow veteran Laura Langman confirmed that they are retiring from international competition after the match, having both debuted internationally back in 2005 – two years after the Silver Ferns’ last World Cup win.
In another post-match response that delighted fans, Langman said she hadn’t decided how to celebrate yet, but was going to start by having a few biscuits.
Long may the @SilverFernsNZ @NetballWorldCup posts continue ❤🌿🖤 Laura Langman says she hasn't quite figured out how she will celebrate yet but she says she will have a few biscuits... pic.twitter.com/37HTk7ePAu
— Ravinder Hunia (@RavMarie16) July 21, 2019
Last year, Netball New Zealand were forced to do some soul-searching after slumping to fourth in the Commonwealth Games.
Management installed Noeline Taurua, herself a former Silver Fern, as coach, but controversially just hired her on a part-time basis. In the build up to the tournament she continued to coach Sunshine Coast Lightning in Super Netball, Australia’s domestic competition.
