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Regional | Australia

UK series 'massive' for Silver Ferns' Commonwealth Games planning

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Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua is confident her squad will be safe from Covid-19 while in England for the 'massive' quad series with Australia, South Africa and hosts England.

The team flew out to London on Saturday.

The UK is currently experiencing an Omicron surge, with England reporting 150,000 cases on Friday alone (NZ time). However, Dame Noeline says they will follow the protocols set up to ensure they remain safe.

"We've been planning for at least a couple of months now, so there's still things that may come out, but we've got to ensure as a group that we stay within our bubble, that we ensure that we're safe," she told Newshub.

Dame Noeline says the series will provide an important gauge of how the Silver Ferns are tracking with the Commonwealth Games just around the corner, in Birmingham in July.

"It's massive for us, I suppose a big stage for us in regards to our overall planning," she says.

"For a lot of us, we haven't played against Australia, for example, and South Africa for at least nearly a year now."

Dame Noeline says they will need to keep a look out for England as well, "who I think have had a fantastic series against Jamaica just recently."