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The Silver Ferns is the national netball team of New Zealand, and are named after the Silver Tree Fern (Cyathea dealbata). They are coached by Ruth Aitken and their governing body is Netball New Zealand.
The Silver Ferns are currently Commonwealth champions and runners up at the latest World Championships. Since the IFNA Netball World Championships began in 1963 the Silver Ferns have placed in the top three each time; they have placed first in 1967 (Perth), 1987 (Glasgow), and 2003 (Kingston), and first equal with Australia and Trinidad and Tobago in 1979 (Port of Spain).
The Silver Ferns also received a silver medal in the 1998 Commonwealth Games (Kuala Lumpur) and 2002 Commonwealth Games (Manchester), plus the gold medal in the 2006 Commonwealth Games (Melbourne, Australia).
As of 2003, the Silver Ferns are the highest ranking team on the IFNA World Rankings. Australia lost their World title to the Silver Ferns in Jamaica 2003. The Silver Ferns are the current World Netball Champions.
During 2004 the Silver Ferns crushed traditional rivals Australia in a historic 3-0 series win -their first clean sweep against Australia since 1989.
In 2005 the World Champions won against Australia 61-36 in Auckland NZ, New Zealand's biggest winning margin over Australia since their 19-goal victory in 1981, while they also surpassed their previous highest score against their trans-Tasman rivals. The Auckland match emphatically confirmed New Zealand were the best in the world, after beating Australia by seven goals in June. Irene van Dyk becoming the world's most-capped netballer in racking up her 129th test, while captain Adine Wilson played in her 50th test and Vilimaina Davu in her 100th. Irene van Dyk netted 41 from 43 attempts at goal to return a 95% shooting rate. The Silver Ferns marched through 2005 unbeaten in all 8 international games, with comfortable series victories over England and Australia, capping the year with a tri-series triumph over Jamaica and Barbados. But after recent losses to England and Australia, coach Ruth Aitken says they need to lift their game or else another world title is unlikely.
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Adine Wilson
