10 Sep 2021

Silver Ferns' trans-Tasman netball series postponed

4:19 pm on 10 September 2021

The Silver Ferns won't be travelling to Australia for October's Constellation Cup clashes with the Australian Diamonds due to the impact of Covid-19 on both sides of the Tasman.

Samantha Winders of the Silver Ferns under pressure from Liz Watson of the Diamonds 2021 Constellation Cup.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The four match series which was to be played in Brisbane, Cairns, Auckland and Wellington will be rescheduled after the closure of the trans-Tasman travel bubble.

Netball New Zealand chief executive Jennie Wyllie said both country's governing bodies were "committed to keeping this series on our calendar".

"Both nations want to play the Constellation Cup as they look ahead to next year's Commonwealth Games, but we also understand the realities that this pandemic has created for international sporting events and the challenges faced with international travel."

Wyllie said they would also prefer to have netball fans able to watch the fierce trans-Tasman netball rivalry live in action which was unlikely under anything other than Alert Level 1.

"We know how much our fans love these battles between the Silver Ferns and Australia so remain hopeful that a rescheduled series would allow for this to happen."

The Silver Ferns won the Constellation Cup earlier this year in Christchurch, securing a 3-1 series win over the Diamonds.

However, the Silver Ferns will be in action from 20 September against the visiting England Roses in Christchurch.

The Roses planned to head to Australia to play the Diamonds following their games against New Zealand.