Netball
AAP 3y

Diamonds lock in New Zealand netball Test series

Netball, Super Netball

Australia will head to New Zealand to take on the world champion Silver Ferns in a four-match Constellation Cup Test series in early March.

The matches will be played at Christchurch Arena on March 2 and March 3 before two games in Tauranga in the north island, on March 6 and 7.

The Diamonds plan to travel to Christchurch on February 15 and prepare for the series during 14 days of quarantine at a managed international quarantine facility.

Similar to the Wallabies before their Test matches in New Zealand last year, athletes and team staff will remain in solo hotel quarantine.

The first five days of quarantine will see all athletes and staff remain in their hotel rooms and, from day five, athletes will be able to access the hotel gym in small groups.

Then, from day seven, athletes and staff will be able to leave hotel rooms only to train on court and in the gym.

Before the Constellation Cup tour, the Diamonds squad will gather next month for a four-day pre-embarkation camp at a location to be determined.

The series will be the first matches under new Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich, who was appointed last year.

"Whilst the environment surrounding this tournament is unique, our team are working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that our squad will be as prepared as they possibly can be to take on the Silver Ferns coming out of two weeks quarantine," Marinkovich said.

The 2020 Constellation Cup was postponed due to the impact of COVID-19 on international travel.

Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand are hoping to complete two Constellation Cup tournaments in 2021 - one in March and one in October.

As an official International Netball Federation tournament, the series will count towards world rankings, with New Zealand looking to dislodge world No.1 Australia.

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