Nerves were evident in the performances of all three newcomers and some of the new combinations still lacked polish, leaving Joline Henry convinced that the side can produce an even stronger performance in the second test in Invercargill on Thursday.
"I think there are lots and lots of good things we can take from that, but I guess the good thing is we've still got more to give," she said.
"We're trying new things out there and we kind of don't know each other as well as we would like, but that just means we have lots of room to improve."
The trio played their first test in the black dress in front of a sell-out crowd, with the Ferns' fans defying predictions that few of them would make the trek out to Waitakere because of that other big sporting event going on in the city.
A large section of the seats behind the New Zealand team bench were taken up by Latu's family, sporting T-shirts emblazoned with "Team Latu". The 24-year-old shooter, one of 10 siblings, has been ineligible to represent New Zealand until now because she played for Samoa in her teens.
Last night's debut moved Latu to tears as she ran on to sing the New Zealand national anthem for the first time as a Silver Fern.
It was also an emotional night for another crowd favourite, Temepara George, as the former Ferns vice-captain was farewelled on the court she has delighted fans on for the past four years with the Mystics.
Netball New Zealand made a special presentation to George at the three-quarter break in the match. She retired following the world championships in Singapore.
New Zealand coach Ruth Aitken threw a surprise in to her starting line-up, with Anna Thompson joining Irene van Dyk in the shooting circle.
Despite some nervous shooting under the close attention of energetic defenders Eboni Beckford-Chambers and Stacey Francis, Thompson had a strong game, linking in well with the attack to set up a commanding 34-18 halftime lead.
Established Mystics pairing Maria Tutaia and Latu then took the court in the second half, but despite their long-standing combination, they struggled early on.
The Ferns also missed the attacking influence of Henry in the second half, with the wing defence driving well through court and putting some beautiful passes into the shooting circle from the transverse line.
Despite playing just 30 minutes of netball, Henry was deservedly named player of the match for her impact.
But even with the miscommunications on attack and the at times overly-ambitious play, the Ferns still outscored England in the final two periods to claim the convincing win.
