Live: Diamonds clash with Silver Ferns in Constellation Cup opener

live Silver Ferns vs Diamonds Constellation Cup first Test — live updates and scores The world's two best netball teams meet for the 16th edition of the Constellation Cup. The Aussie Diamonds are looking to test themselves against the Commonwealth Games gold-medal-winning New Zealand Silver Ferns ahead of next year's World Cup in Sydney. Meanwhile, Courtney Bruce is set to play her 100th Test. She becomes the Diamonds' seventh centurion and the second defender to reach the milestone after Liz Ellis. The first game will be played in Auckland. Follow our live blog. Submit a comment or question Live updates New: Filters Choose what information you see below by using filters The squad lists Both team's have built their 14-player squads around the Commonwealth Games but there are some changes. AUSTRALIA: There will be no Jo Weston this series for the Diamonds after the defender ruled herself out. Weston wanted to take a break to rest her body and focus on her Masters studies at Deakin University. Added to the squad are all three Commonwealth Games reserves: Donnell Wallam, Amy Parmenter and Jessie Grenvold. NEW ZEALAND: The Silver Ferns will be without Catherine Hall as she recovers from an ACL injury she sustained in Glasgow. They have also added three of their six reserves from the major tournament: Te Paea Selby-Rickit, Peta Toeava and Parris Mason. According to Netball Scoop:Overall, the Diamonds have 211 games worth of Constellation Cup experience, compared to the Silver Ferns with 140. #DressGate The dress that caused a stir in Glasgow for potentially being too short made by Commonwealth Games Australia uniform provider Valour Sport will not be used for this series. This actually has nothing to do with the controversy surrounding the major tournament as that dress was specifically made for the Games and would not have been used beyond that event anyway. However, it was important following that drama that Netball Australia ensure its next kit would be fit for purpose, taking on athlete feedback and midcourter Jamie-Lee Price worked closely with new provider ASICS to design a dress for this series that hopefully won’t hitch up while the team is in action. There is reportedly a different one in the works with ASICS for next year’s Netball World Cup in Sydney. “Athletes come in all shapes and sizes and you want to make sure that they all feel comfortable in the dress, so that’s probably been the priority for us as players is to have something that is functional and doesn’t just look great when you’re standing still, so far it’s been awesome,” Amy Parmenter told ABC Sport. The Kiwi influx It'll be interesting to see how each team fares after so much exposure to each other in the domestic Super Netball season. With unlimited imports allowed in the Australian league and New Zealand's competition struggling in recent years, there has been a big influx of Kiwi talent that now get to train alongside and play against the Diamonds every week. Next season there has been even more New Zealand players signed and once this Constellation Cup wraps up Diamond Sophie Dwyer and Silver Fern Grace Nweke will link up for pre-season training as new teammates at the Sydney Sirens. Dwyer told ABC Sport that Nweke was a huge threat in this series. “We’re both really excited about what our shooting partnership could be but I am looking forward to knowing her more post Constellation Cup when we are into the thick of pre-season with the Sirens. "That’s the beauty of Super Netball we have so many people that are our rivals one day and teammates the next.” Key Event World ranking on the line This series is REALLY important when it comes to world rankings. After an unbeaten run at the Commonwealth Games, New Zealand closed the gap in the ratings, while Australia’s semi-final loss to Jamaica proved very costly. The opportunity to leapfrog Australia and take the world number one ranking is apparently something the Silver Ferns had spoken about. "We've put it out there on day one [in camp],"head coach Noeline Taurua told the media. "There is the opportunity, we have to win all four games to be in the number one position, if we win three then we're even." Key Event No more series decider Since 2014, with both nations eager to hold an equal number of Tests, the Constellation Cup has been a four-game series decided by goal aggregate. This has been an ongoing bug bear for fans, who would prefer to see three of five games played with hosting duties switched each year to make it fair across the countries. Instead in 2024, a series decider was added by organisers to the format to try and make it more exciting. It wasn’t required that year, with New Zealand winning 3-1, but was required in 2025 with the series locked at 2-all in Christchurch. At the end of the game, a 12-minute break was held before two seven-minute halves were played as a tiebreaker. Australia won the series outright in this period but lost defender Sunday Aryang to a devastating ACL injury in the dying seconds. Kiwi stars Maddy Gordon and Kate Heffernan both dealt with cramps and were forced to come off during the additional time period. The decider has now been ditched for the 2026 series. Organisers insist it had nothing to do with Aryang’s injury. Even so, Diamonds midcourter Amy Parmenter told ABC Sport it was the right choice: “We do as much prep as we can but to play that many games across two weeks and then to add an unlimited amount of time depending on the game result, I think the priority is to make sure we’re not overdoing it. "Seeing what did come out of last year with Sunday, I’m not saying that’s the reason, but in October we’re not fresh off the back of the domestic season and it is quite a demand on the body to play 60 plus minutes, so I support the decision.” NZ coach says pressure is on Aus New Zealand has only won the Constellation Cup three times (2012, 2012 and 2024) but comes into the series in better shape, off the back of winning gold at the Commonwealth Games. However, neither of these teams met at the major tournament, starting in opposite pools. This opening Test in Christchurch will mark the first time Noeline Taurua has coached the Silver Ferns on home soil in two years, after copping a controversial suspension in 2025 that caused a massive rift in the sport. “We know that Netball World Cup [next year] is in August in Sydney so I'd like to think maybe the pressure is on them at the moment,” Taurua told Radio New Zealand. “It's an opportunity for us to consolidate from Commonwealth Games but also possibly to see what we can do to give others an opportunity. So it's a fine line we're going to tread, but definitely working ourselves towards Netball World Cup." You can read more about that here from Bridget Tunnicliffe. The heartbreak of Glasgow Australian shooter Sophie Dwyer hasn't had much time to get over the team's devastating loss in the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games. Brought on very late in the game, Dwyer missed the Diamonds' last shot at goal to tie the match against Jamaica and send it into extra-time. Dwyer didn't make it on court during the bronze medal match the next day. Tonight she's been named on the bench. “I reflect on Comm Games and it was probably the highest of highs and lowest of lows in one week,” Dwyer told ABC Sport earlier this month. “I’ve had to do a lot of mental work on that, it was the hardest couple of days I’ve experienced in my career, but the girls and Stacey Marinkovich were amazing. "I felt the whole netball community get behind me ... There was so much disappointment with how we finished but the way that we bounced back in less than 24 hours and came together to win bronze is something that we’re really proud of. "Not everyone leaves with a Commonwealth Games medal. At the same time our expectations of ourselves and what other people expect of us is gold and we want to keep being that number one team in the world, so we have done a lot of reflection and that’s why I think it’s so exciting that we’re about to test ourselves against the team that did get gold and we haven’t played them in a year." Key Event The basics This will be the 16th edition of the Constellation Cup, which has been contested annually since 2010 (except for 2020 when the series was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Australia is the current title holder and has been the more dominant side throughout history, winning the series 12 times overall. But in recent years, they've struggled with form in New Zealand — last winning a game there in 2021. Interestingly enough, according to Netball Scoop, that match was Liz Watson's first-ever game as Australian captain and Stacey Marinkovich's second game as head coach. Neither has tasted success across the ditch since. The team comes into this series off the back of its lowest-ever finish at a Commonwealth Games, claiming bronze after facing an upset from Jamaica in the semi-finals. A squad of 14 has been training at the AIS in Canberra before it flew across the Tasman and landed in Silver Ferns' territory on Friday. SCHEDULE Game 1: Sunday 18 October, 5:40pm AEDT — Auckland City Arena, Auckland Game 2: Wednesday 21 October, 5:40pm AEDT — Christchurch Arena, Christchurch Game 3: Sunday 25 October, 4:00pm AEDT — Sydney SuperDome, Sydney Game 4: Wednesday 28 October, 7:30pm AEDT — John Cain Arena, Melbourne Key Event International netball is back Hello and welcome to ABC Sport's live coverage of the Constellation Cup. Brittany Carter here with you to keep you updated on all the action. We're not far off the first pass in Auckland now, with play getting underway at 5:40pm AEDT. This will be the first time the Aussie Diamonds and New Zealand Silver Ferns hit the court since the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. [Image text:] MELIOURN MEAROURE MELBOLRNE MEAVARNE MELBOLRN