PREVIEW: #CANvsNZL

In little more than a few hours, New Zealand will open their World Champs campaign against a Canadian team that is hot off the back of a silver medal at the Pan-American Games in Toronto.

The two teams clashed little under two months ago, in New Zealand’s first international game since World Championships in Barcelona, some 21 months earlier. It was the Kiwis opening game of the 2015 FINA World League Women’s Intercontinental Tournament in April.

The New Zealanders started strongly, with an energetic six-on-five which allowed Sarah Landry to execute. Canada leveled and then scored another in the dying seconds of the first quarter.

New Zealand lost touch in the second and Canada sealed the game in this quarter. The scores for the third and fourth quarter were tight, 3-4, and 3-3, for a final score of 7-15.

Sarah Landry (pictured) and Jasmine Myles each scored a hat-trick against Canada in April

New Zealand must be switched on for the full duration if they want a dream start for their goal of cracking the top eight at the 16th FINA World Championships in Kazan.

The addition of young guns Danielle Lewis, Caitlin Lopes da Silva, and veteran Sarah Johns offers something new for New Zealand since the tournament two months ago. Lewis and Lopes da Silva are fresh from university water polo in Hawaii, whilst veteran Sarah Johns carries an array of experience including a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Championships.

GO KIWIS: Good luck messages sent from home and beyond to Kazan

The game against Canada will be the first for Kazan 2015, and kicks off locally at 9:30am (6:30pm NZT).