Netball: Australian men's team steal Fast5 spotlight with pre-match ...
NZ Herald
9 Nov, 2024 07:05 PM2 mins to read
Australia’s men’s netball team stole the show on the opening day of netball’s Fast5 series in Christchurch, busting out a routine to NSync’s Bye Bye Bye as their pre-tournament dance performance.
With all teams competing in the abridged form of the game encouraged to perform a dance before their first match of the tournament, Australia’s men – known as the Kelpies – were no exception, and got the crowd on their feet.
Taking to the court at Christchurch’s Wolfbrook Arena, the Kelpies spectacularly pulled off the American boyband’s hit, and had the crowd in raptures.
While it may not have been as intimidating as the All Blacks’ haka, the Fijian cibi, Tonga’s sipi tau or Samoa’s siva tau, the Kelpies’ efforts were by far the standout display – on or off the court – on the opening day.
The commentators were in agreement, declaring: “Amazing! If you ever wanted to be part of a boy band and do the choreographed dance, that was the chance, and they absolutely nailed it, Australia.”
To cap the performance off, the Kelpies got the better of South Africa to open their Fast5 with a 42-27 victory.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand men’s side also opened with a victory against Australia, setting up a showdown against South Africa on Sunday to determine which two sides will meet in the grand final.
In the women’s draw, Australia were the standouts on the opening day, with wins over Uganda (44-37), South Africa (49-26) and the Fast Ferns (41-26).
New Zealand have a 2-1 record after day one, with wins over Jamaica (39-19) and Uganda (40-27), before a defeat to Australia.
New Zealand are to face England and South Africa on day two, to determine their prospective opponent in the knockout stages.
The Fast Ferns and Australia met in the 2023 final, where the home side fell to a 35-23 loss to settle for silver.
The Fast5 tournament resumes later on Sunday.
