Louisa Wall: Flowers and a haka for our champions

Kiwis captain Ruben Wiki didn't get flowers after the Kiwis v Great Britain test match as Irene van Dyk did after Silver Ferns' win over Australia but he did get a haka from his team-mates.

The Kiwis cementing their spot at the top of the Tri-Nations ladder with a solid win over the Brits was a wonderful way to mark Wiki's world record appearance of 47 tests.

It is a magnificent effort compared with 129 for van Dyk. It was also a classy 50th test for Silver Ferns captain Adine Wilson and 100th test for our Silver Fern defensive icon Vili Davu.

The Ferns were in control from the start, inspired by an electric and very vocal crowd.

The Silver Ferns had the upper hand in every area of the court. The defensive end worked well to keep the Aussies off the circle edge and slowed the ball to give the circle defenders ample opportunities to play on good angles for the intercept which they did several times.

The midcourt controlled the ball well off both the centre-pass and through court and the dynamic pairing of Silver Fern leaders Adine Wilson and Temepara George at centre and wing attack was absolutely dominant. I applaud this leadership duo who in controlling the ball through the court controlled the game.

And I think in the shooting circle this game marked the maturing of goal attack Jodi Te Huna. She took control in the first quarter, dominating the scoring and her combination and timing with van Dyk was very pleasing.

The team have lifted their game which is a healthy sign of good internal competition for places and there was no more demonstration of that hunger than by replacement and re-selected Silver Fern goal defence Leana de Bruin, who displayed all the desire and commitment of a debutant and who was matched only by our rebounding effort at both ends.

The Aussies missed their captain-fantastic Liz Ellis and if she had been on, they may not have been beaten by 25 goals, the biggest winning margin in the history of our competitive netball relationship.

But even she conceded we still would have enjoyed a comprehensive victory. And, sadly for the Aussies, she has been ruled out of the Commonwealth Games which means that putting money on the Silver Ferns to win gold would be as good as having money on Makybe Diva.

George's post-match comment that the Ferns can be better, stronger and faster, assures that the sense of total satisfaction in performance continues to be sought.

Sharelle McMahon towered above her compatriots for the Aussies and their attacking end were most adept at employing the rugby skills that coach Norma Plumber had sought.

It was excellent to see Belinda Colling back in black and her first touch was a goal, which is not surprising. The coaching staff made a good decision to keep the foot on the accelerator as they raced to victory and the winning margin was reflective of this.

And the night out proved more than worthwhile for the Black Sticks whose presence was noted - they seemed to have drawn from the Silver Ferns victory as they repeated the outcome in their clash the following day.

Now, all eyes are on the All Blacks and let's hope they use the frustration of the continuing Brian O'Driscoll incident to do the talking on the scoreboard. That's the best way to use this sort of pre-campaign and pre-book hype to invert the intended outcome and stay focused.

* Louisa Wall is a former New Zealand netball and rugby representative