2021 Constellation Cup

The 2021 Constellation Cup, also known as the Cadbury Netball Series, was the 11th Constellation Cup series between New Zealand and Australia. The series featured four netball test matches, played in March 2021. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all four matches were hosted at the Christchurch Arena and only the final match was played with spectators in attendance.^[2][3][4] The series was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia by three games to one, winning the Constellation Cup for the second time and for the first time since 2012.^{[1][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]}

2021 Constellation Cup

Tournament details
Host country	New Zealand
Dates	2 March–7 March 2021
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand (2nd title)
Runner-up	Australia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Top scorer(s)	Maia Wilson  140/161 (87%)[1]
← 2019 2022 →

Squads

Australia

Australia roster
Players	Coaches
Name Pos DOB Height Club Nat Caps Jessica Anstiss WD, C (1996-11-20)20 November 1996 (aged 24) 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) West Coast Fever 0 Kiera Austin GA, WA, GS (1997-08-26)26 August 1997 (aged 23) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Giants Netball 4 Caitlin Bassett1 (c) GS (1988-05-23)23 May 1988 (aged 32) 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 102 Courtney Bruce GK, GD (1993-12-08)8 December 1993 (aged 27) 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) West Coast Fever 40 Verity Charles WA, C (1991-05-19)19 May 1991 (aged 29) 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) West Coast Fever 3 Tippah Dwan GA, GS (1999-10-30)30 October 1999 (aged 21) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Queensland Firebirds 0 Sophie Garbin GS, GA (1997-04-06)6 April 1997 (aged 23) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) New South Wales Swifts 1 Paige Hadley2 C, WA, WD (1992-08-26)26 August 1992 (aged 28) 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) New South Wales Swifts 28 Kim Jenner GD, GK (1998-02-27)27 February 1998 (aged 23) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Queensland Firebirds 0 Sarah Klau GK, GD (1994-09-30)30 September 1994 (aged 26) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) New South Wales Swifts 13 Cara Koenen GS, GA (1996-02-27)27 February 1996 (aged 25) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Sunshine Coast Lightning 4 Jamie-Lee Price WD, C (1996-01-10)10 January 1996 (aged 25) 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) Giants Netball 16 Maddy Proud2 WA, C (1993-12-04)4 December 1993 (aged 27) 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) New South Wales Swifts 0 Kate Moloney C, WD (1993-01-08)8 January 1993 (aged 28) 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) Melbourne Vixens 10 Gabi Simpson WD, C, GD (1992-10-17)17 October 1992 (aged 28) 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) Queensland Firebirds 41 Liz Watson1 (c) WA, C (1994-03-30)30 March 1994 (aged 26) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Melbourne Vixens 48 Joanna Weston GD, WD, GK (1994-02-14)14 February 1994 (aged 27) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Melbourne Vixens 42	Head coach Stacey Marinkovich Assistant coach Michelle Den Dekker Sharelle McMahon Notes (c) – Captain (cc) – Co-captain (vc) – Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player

Sources:^[12][13][14]

Notes

• ^1 Caitlin Bassett captained Australia for the first test on 2 March. Liz Watson captained Australia for the last three. ^{[15][16][17][18]}
• ^2 Maddy Proud and Paige Hadley were included in squad but did not play any in any of the tests. ^[19]

Jane Watson and Gina Crampton captained the Silver Ferns second match due to Ameliaranne Ekenasio being unwell.

New Zealand

New Zealand roster
Players	Coaches
Name Pos DOB Height Club Nat Caps Karin Burger WD, GD, GK (1993-04-12)12 April 1993 (aged 27) 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Mainland Tactix 26 Gina Crampton WA, C (1991-12-07)7 December 1991 (aged 29) 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) Northern Stars 47 Ameliaranne Ekenasio (c) GA, GS (1991-01-11)11 January 1991 (aged 30) 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Central Pulse 47 Monica Falkner GA, GS (1991-04-08)8 April 1991 (aged 29) 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Northern Stars 3 Sulu Fitzpatrick GK, GD, WD (1992-08-20)20 August 1992 (aged 28) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Northern Mystics 10 Maddy Gordon C, WA, WD (2000-01-16)16 January 2000 (aged 21) 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) Central Pulse 1 Claire Kersten WD, C (1989-07-09)9 July 1989 (aged 31) 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Central Pulse 15 Bailey Mes GS, GA, WA (1989-05-27)27 May 1989 (aged 31) 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Northern Mystics 72 Kimiora Poi C, WA (1997-11-01)1 November 1997 (aged 23) 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) Mainland Tactix 7 Shannon Saunders C, WA (1990-10-12)12 October 1990 (aged 30) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Southern Steel 81 Whitney Souness WA, C (1991-10-12)12 October 1991 (aged 29) 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) Central Pulse 14 Jane Watson GK, GD (1990-03-07)7 March 1990 (aged 30) 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Mainland Tactix 52 Maia Wilson GS, GA (1997-09-21)21 September 1997 (aged 23) 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Northern Stars 21 Samantha Winders WD, C, WA (1995-06-05)5 June 1995 (aged 25) 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 41	Head coach Noeline Taurua Assistant coach Yvonne Willering Jane Woodlands-Thompson Manager: Esther Molloy Notes (c) – Captain (cc) – Co-captain (vc) – Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player

Source:^[14][20]

Match officials

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia and New Zealand umpires took charge of the series. In 2020, the International Netball Federation introduced an interim policy to allow umpires to be appointed to games involving their own country, if it was too impractical to get umpires in from overseas.^[21]

Umpires

Umpire	Association
Joshua Bowring	Australia
Gareth Fowler	New Zealand
Kristie Simpson	New Zealand

Umpire Appointments Panel

Umpire	Association
David Pala'amo	New Zealand
Fay Meiklejohn	New Zealand

Sources:^[21][22]

Matches

First test

2 March 2021 7:30 pm	Stats	New Zealand	49–44	Australia		Christchurch Arena	Sky Sport Nine
		Scoring by quarter: 14–10, 28–21, 40–31, 49–44
		Maia Wilson  31/40 (78%) Ameliaranne Ekenasio  18/23 (78%)		Caitlin Bassett  19/21 (90%) Kiera Austin  18/24 (75%) Cara Koenen  7/7 (100%)

Sources:^[15][23]

Second test

3 March 2021 7:30 pm	Stats	New Zealand	36–45	Australia		Christchurch Arena	Sky Sport Nine
		Scoring by quarter: 6–15, 16–30, 28–38, 36–45
		Maia Wilson  32/38 (84%) Bailey Mes  3/5 (60%) Monica Falkner  1/2 (50%)		Cara Koenen  29/34 (85%) Kiera Austin  13/24 (54%) Sophie Garbin  3/6 (50%)

Sources:^[18][24]

Third test

6 March 2021 4:00 pm	Stats	New Zealand	55–49	Australia		Christchurch Arena	Sky Sport Nine
		Scoring by quarter: 11–14, 24–29, 38–40, 55–49
		Maia Wilson  41/43 (95%) Ameliaranne Ekenasio  14/17 (82%)		Cara Koenen  25/29 (86%) Kiera Austin  18/27 (67%) Caitlin Bassett  6/7 (86%)

Sources:^[25][26][27]

Fourth test

7 March 2021 4:00 pm	Stats	New Zealand	45–43	Australia		Christchurch Arena Attendance: 2,500 [6]	Sky Sport Nine
		Scoring by quarter: 6–12, 17–22, 30–31, 45–43
		Maia Wilson  36/40 (90%) Ameliaranne Ekenasio  9/12 (75%)		Kiera Austin  28/35 (80%) Cara Koenen  15/19 (79%)

Sources:^{[6][7][8][9][10][11]}

References

1. Brendon Egan (9 March 2021). "Constellation Cup: How the Silver Ferns rated in their series win over Australia". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
2. "Constellation Cup – Everything You Need To Know". World Netball. 1 March 2021. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
3. "Christchurch to host entire Constellation Cup Series". diamonds.netball.com.au. 1 March 2021.
4. "Crowd to be allowed for final Constellation Cup Test in Christchurch". silverferns.co.nz. 5 March 2021.
5. Brendon Egan (7 March 2021). "Constellation Cup: The Silver Ferns go from tears to trophies within three years". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
6. "Constellation Cup: Silver Ferns snap nine-year Constellation Cup drought". www.stuff.co.nz. 7 March 2021.
7. "Aussies' decade-long stranglehold breaks as Diamonds cough up Constellation Cup". www.foxsports.com.au. 7 March 2021.
8. "New Zealand edge Diamonds to win first Constellation Cup series since 2012". www.theguardian.com. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
9. "New Zealand wins Constellation Cup, defeating Australia 45-43 in fourth Test in Christchurch". www.abc.net.au. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
10. "Diamonds' nine-year Constellation Cup stranglehold on Silver Ferns finally cracks". wwos.nine.com.au. 7 March 2021.
11. "Silver Ferns secure Constellation Cup in final match thriller". silverferns.co.nz. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
12. "Den Dekker and McMahon named specialist coaches". diamonds.netball.com.au. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
13. "March Constellation Cup squad confirmed". diamonds.netball.com.au. 10 February 2021. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
14. "New Zealand 49–44 Australia". mc.championdata.com. 2 March 2021.
15. "Diamonds stumble in Constellation Cup opener". diamonds.netball.com.au. 2 March 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
16. "Australia needs better communication over its netball captaincy, says former Diamond Sharni Norder". www.abc.net.au. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
17. "'Getting used to losing': Netball great fires up after eight-year low". www.foxsports.com.au. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
18. "Diamonds bounce back to level the series". diamonds.netball.com.au. 3 March 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
19. "Aussie netball stars complete two weeks of quarantine for absolutely nothing". www.news.com.au. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
20. "Silver Ferns team named to take on Australian Diamonds". silverferns.co.nz. 24 February 2021.
21. "Dame Noeline happy with non-neutral umpires for Con Cup". www.rnz.co.nz. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
22. "Cadbury Netball Series Constellation Cup Umpire Appointments". World Netball. 28 January 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
23. "Silver Ferns win opening match of Constellation Cup". silverferns.co.nz. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
24. "Diamonds bounce back to level Constellation Cup series". silverferns.co.nz. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
25. "Silver Ferns power home to take 2-1 lead in Constellation Cup". silverferns.co.nz. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
26. "New Zealand beats Australia 55-49 in Christchurch to take a 2-1 lead in the Constellation Cup series". www.abc.net.au. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
27. "Diamonds shocked as New Zealand claim third Constellation Cup Test". www.theguardian.com. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.