2015 Constellation Cup

The 2015 Constellation Cup was the 6th Constellation Cup series played between Australia and New Zealand. The series, also known as the New World Netball Series, featured four netball test matches, played in October 2015. The Australia team was coached by Lisa Alexander and captained by Laura Geitz. New Zealand were coached by Waimarama Taumaunu and captained by Casey Kopua. Australia won the first two tests and led 2–0 going into the third test. However, New Zealand won the third and fourth tests to level the series at 2–2. Australia were declared the winners because, having scored 202 goals compared to New Zealand's 200, they had a better aggregate score over the series.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

2015 Constellation Cup

Tournament details
Host countries	Australia  New Zealand
Dates	20–30 October 2015
Final positions
Champions	Australia (5th title)
Runner-up	New Zealand
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Top scorer(s)	Caitlin Bassett  139/149 (93%)
← 2014 2016 →

Squads

Australia

Australia roster
Players	Coaches
Name Pos DOB Height Club Nat Caps Caitlin Bassett GS (1988-05-23)23 May 1988 (aged 27) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) West Coast Fever Erin Bell GA, WA, GS (1985-10-26)26 October 1985 (aged 29) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Adelaide Thunderbirds Ashleigh Brazill C, WD (1989-12-29)29 December 1989 (aged 25) 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) West Coast Fever Laura Geitz (c) GK, GD (1987-11-04)4 November 1987 (aged 27) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Queensland Firebirds Paige Hadley C, WA, WD (1992-08-26)26 August 1992 (aged 23) 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) New South Wales Swifts Renae Ingles (vc)  WD, C (1986-07-18)18 July 1986 (aged 29) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Adelaide Thunderbirds Sharni Layton GK, GD, WD (1988-01-06)6 January 1988 (aged 27) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) New South Wales Swifts April Letton GK, GD (1990-04-19)19 April 1990 (aged 25) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) West Coast Fever Clare McMeniman GD, WD (1985-07-11)11 July 1985 (aged 30) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Queensland Firebirds Natalie Medhurst GA, GS (1984-01-20)20 January 1984 (aged 31) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) West Coast Fever Kim Ravaillion C, WD, WA (1993-07-26)26 July 1993 (aged 22) 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Queensland Firebirds Gabi Simpson WD, GD, C (1992-10-17)17 October 1992 (aged 23) 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) Queensland Firebirds Caitlin Thwaites GS, GA (1986-12-29)29 December 1986 (aged 28) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) New South Wales Swifts Gretel Tippett GA,GS (1993-07-03)3 July 1993 (aged 22) 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Queensland Firebirds Jo Weston GD, WD, GK (1994-02-14)14 February 1994 (aged 21) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Melbourne Vixens	Head coach Lisa Alexander Notes (c) – Captain (cc) – Co-captain (vc) – Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player

Debuts

• Gabi Simpson made her senior debut for Australia in the first test on 20 October 2015.^[8][9][10]
• Gretel Tippett made her senior debut for Australia in the second test on 22 October 2015.^[11][12][13]
• On 25 October 2015, Ashleigh Brazill and Jo Weston both made their senior debuts for Australia in the third test.^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

Milestones

• On 22 October 2015, during the second test, for the first time in the history of the Australia national netball team, five Queensland Firebirds players were on the court at the same time. The five were Laura Geitz, Clare McMeniman, Gretel Tippett, Kim Ravaillion and Gabi Simpson.^[13]
• On 30 October 2015, during the fourth test, Caitlin Bassett scored her 1500th international goal in the opening quarter.^[19]

Sources:^{[2][10][18][20]}

New Zealand

New Zealand roster
Players	Coaches
Name Pos DOB Height Club Nat Caps Jodi Brown GA, GS (1981-05-06)6 May 1981 (aged 34) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Central Pulse Leana de Bruin GD, GK (1977-07-09)9 July 1977 (aged 38) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Kayla Cullen GD, WD, C (1992-02-13)13 February 1992 (aged 23) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Northern Mystics Shannon Francois WA, C, GA (1990-10-12)12 October 1990 (aged 25) 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) Southern Steel Katrina Grant GK, GD, WD (1987-05-06)6 May 1987 (aged 28) 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Central Pulse Phoenix Karaka GK, GD (1993-11-06)6 November 1993 (aged 21) 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Southern Steel Casey Kopua (c) GD, GK (1985-06-19)19 June 1985 (aged 30) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Laura Langman (vc) C, WD (1986-04-16)16 April 1986 (aged 29) 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Northern Mystics Bailey Mes GS, GA (1989-05-27)27 May 1989 (aged 26) 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Mainland Tactix Malia Paseka GS, GA (1994-09-23)23 September 1994 (aged 21) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Grace Rasmussen GA, WA (1988-03-18)18 March 1988 (aged 27) 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Ameliaranne Wells GS, GA (1991-01-11)11 January 1991 (aged 24) 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Central Pulse	Head coach Waimarama Taumaunu Notes (c) – Captain (cc) – Co-captain (vc) – Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player

Milestones

• On 25 October 2015, Casey Kopua made her 100th test appearance during the third test.^[15][21]

Sources:^[1][22][23]

Matches

New World Netball Series

First test

20 October 2015	Stats	New Zealand	44–50	Australia		Horncastle Arena
		Scoring by quarter: 13–14, 22–26, 34–40, 44–50
		Bailey Mes  24/28 (86%) Jodi Brown  20/25 (80%)		Caitlin Bassett  38/44 (86%) Natalie Medhurst  12/14 (86%)

Sources:^{[9][24][25][26]}

Second test

22 October 2015	Stats	New Zealand	48–58	Australia		Vector Arena
		Scoring by quarter: 13–14, 27–27, 40–43, 48–58
		Bailey Mes  30/32 (94%) Jodi Brown  16/22 (73%) Ameliaranne Wells  2/2 (100%)		Caitlin Bassett  39/41 (95%) Natalie Medhurst  19/20 (95%)

Sources:^{[12][13][27][28]}

Third test

25 October 2015	Stats	Australia	47–50	New Zealand		Hisense Arena
		Scoring by quarter: 15–9, 28–21, 36–36, 47–50
		Caitlin Bassett  24/24 (100%) Natalie Medhurst  10/14 (71%) Erin Bell  8/9 (89%) Caitlin Thwaites  5/6 (83%)		Bailey Mes  29/39 (74%) Jodi Brown  17/23 (74%) Malia Paseka  4/6 (67%)

Sources:^{[15][16][21][17][29]}

Fourth test

30 October 2015	Stats	Australia	47–58	New Zealand		Perth Arena Attendance: 12,365
		Scoring by quarter: 12–13, 27–27, 36–45, 47–58
		Caitlin Bassett  38/40 (95%) Natalie Medhurst  7/11 (64%) Erin Bell  2/3 (67%)		Bailey Mes  24/32 (75%) Jodi Brown  34/41 (83%)

Sources:^{[3][4][5][6][7][19]}

References

1. "Silver Ferns team named for Constellation Cup". www.silverferns.co.nz. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
2. "Australia's Diamonds name netball team for Constellation Cup series against New Zealand". www.abc.net.au. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
3. "Australian Diamonds fall to Silver Ferns but still celebrate successful 2015". www.theguardian.com. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
4. "Silver Ferns thump Diamonds but Australia wins Constellation Cup". www.abc.net.au. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
5. "Netball: Ferns fire to bag big win over Aussies". www.odt.co.nz. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
6. "Australia retains Constellation Cup". vis.org.au. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
7. "Constellation Cup: Silver Ferns win final match but Diamonds retain trophy". www.smh.com.au. 31 October 2015. Archived from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
8. "Australia Diamonds - Gabi Simpson". womensportreport.com. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
9. "Australian Diamonds beat New Zealand 50-44 in Constellation Cup opener in Christchurch". www.abc.net.au. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
10. "Constellation Cup: Diamonds suffer blow as Renae Ingles is ruled out with injury". www.heraldsun.com.au. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
11. "Gretel Bueta". diamonds.netball.com.au. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
12. "Diamonds beat Silver Ferns to take 2-0 lead in Constellation Cup". www.theguardian.com. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
13. "Constellation Cup: Diamonds take 2-0 series lead after downing New Zealand in Auckland". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
14. "Jo Weston". diamonds.netball.com.au. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
15. "Constellation Cup: Silver Ferns shock depleted Diamonds at Hisense Arena". www.theguardian.com. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
16. "New Zealand beats Australian Diamonds 50-47 to keep Constellation Cup netball series alive". www.abc.net.au. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
17. "Diamonds 10-game Constellation Cup winning streak against Silver Ferns comes to an end in 50-47 defeat". www.heraldsun.com.au. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
18. "Ash Brazill of West Coast Fever set to make Australian Diamonds debut against New Zealand". www.perthnow.com.au. 3 September 2015.
19. "Big win for Ferns but not enough". www.rnz.co.nz. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
20. "Australian Diamonds name Joanna Weston, Ashleigh Brazill in Constellation Cup squad". www.abc.net.au. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
21. "Silver Ferns mark Kopua's milestone with thrilling comeback win". www.netballnz.co.nz. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
22. "Cathrine Latu left out by Silver Ferns for netball series against Australia". www.theguardian.com. 7 October 2015. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
23. "Netball New Zealand – Ninety-first Annual Report 2015" (PDF). silverferns.co.nz. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
24. "Silver Ferns lose Constellation Cup opener". www.netballnz.co.nz. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
25. "Diamonds clinical in opening Constellation Cup win over Silver Ferns". www.theguardian.com. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
26. "Silver Ferns goal shoot Bailey Mes aiming to build on promising start". stuff.co.nz. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
27. "Silver Ferns fade to lose again to Australia". stuff.co.nz. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
28. "Silver Ferns suffer second defeat to Australia". www.rnz.co.nz. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
29. "Silver Ferns fight back". www.rnz.co.nz. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2022.