16 March - Hamilton - New Zealand Captain Sophie Devine pre-match press conference
Reporter: Looking at tomorrow. How big of a game is this for you guys? Obviously, it's sort of like a do or die situation. So how do you sort of prepare for that?
Sophie Devine: Oh, look, I'm not sure it's quite do or die just yet - but we know this game has some real significance for us. And we know that South Africa are playing particularly well at the moment. So we - I guess the thing that we can control is how we play and how we prepare and how we plan so that's certainly what we've done. We've had a bit of time off, which was really necessary. I think it's been a pretty full on first couple of weeks and especially coming straight off the back of Indian series as well. So we took some time off, we've regrouped. We're really focused. We've got training tonight which is going to be I think, really specific around what we're going to face tomorrow out here against South Africa, but we're certainly looking forward to the challenge. We're under no illusions that we certainly want to win our remaining games and it starts tomorrow.
Reporter: I guess you just have a few days breaks between the two matches and how crucial was that – to go away and have a break – rethink and regroup, had crucial was that especially coming off a loss?
Sophie: Oh, it's probably a little bit different to how it used to be pre COVID times. I think when I say you get away, you can't really do too much because you’re obviously still confined by the bubble restriction. So it is really important that we have our own space and we can switch off and get away from cricket. I think sometimes it can be pretty all encompassing, so it is important for us to go into different things- somewhere to go, somewhere to the beach, and some just chilled out and had some time away to refresh and recharge the batteries and we would have done the same if we would have won that game against Australia. So that doesn't change for us. It's now about switching back on, we know it's cricket time now and that's something that I think this group has done particularly well over the last sort of couple of weeks is being able to switch on and off when necessary.
Reporter: Oh, and just last one from me – do you sort of feel like you’ve had a break and now you're ready to restart, and really get into the last few games?
Sophie: Oh, absolutely. I think yeah, we've just finished up a couple of meetings this afternoon and the girls - I think this is sort of getting to the pointy end of the tournament now and we know- I guess the situation that lies ahead of us. We know that we need to win and that provides some challenges and some pressure but also it's something that we want to step towards as a group. So we're really looking forward to - I guess all our focus is on South Africa because it's all that we can control at the moment -so South Africa is next and you know what will be will be.
Reporter: I mean, obviously the result against Australia, the nature in which it came wasn't what you were hoping for. But how do you go about putting it in perspective in terms of the whole tournament? And what it means as a one off game?
Sophie: Yeah, that's a really good question. It's certainly something that I guess we've dissected - if you actually look at the first 30 overs of our bowling innings. We had the Australians under a huge amount of pressure and I guess that shows the quality of the side that they are to be able to go from I think they were a 114 at the 30th to 269. So that's a nice score for them and something that, you know, you have to give credit where it's due and they played particularly well and that's given us some things to work on moving forward. And I guess it's a really important thing with tournament players that you've got to be able to adapt and learn on the go and make sure that you're always learning as a group because this tournament continues to evolve and change every game every day. So look, we've certainly got a few different plans in place moving forward to the South African game, but we also know what we missed against Australia.
Reporter: And just you mentioned there about you've had meetings and I imagine there's been a lot of sort of talking and dissecting since the Australia game, you particularly as captain - what has been or what will be your message to your team ahead of this next game?
Sophie: Probably the same message it's been said throughout – is to have fun and enjoy the occasion. It's a World Cup at home. It's another opportunity to represent our country and so I think certainly we want to be playing with a smile on our face because we know when we've played well in this tournament, it's when we've done so enjoying each other's company and we've been really relaxed so that'll be my message to the girls and it is no different really.
Reporter: I think Jacob mentioned on Sunday that the coordinator was restricting your bowling ability, how you placed ahead of tomorrow's game in terms of your ability to bowl a few overs and could that make a difference to sort of like the makeup of the side?
Sophie: Yeah, look, potentially I think tracking really well sort of just have to get I guess a final sign off from the physio and the rest of the staff there to make sure, but it's – yeah I think it's playing it safe with the quad. I've probably dealt with a few of these in the last couple of years and know that they can sort of pester away in the background, so good to get on top of it early. But yeah, absolutely. I guess if I come back in to bowl it could potentially change the makeup of the team. But I think the great thing about this unit that we've seen is we've got players that can step up and do different jobs. We've seen it with you know, the way Frankie stepped up with the new ball – we’ve seen Hannah Rowe with the new ball, obviously got Lea who’s been able to adapt. So it's certainly I think a strength moving forward in this group.
Reporter: Just how highly do you rate this South African team. We saw them come over here a couple of years ago and beat you three -nil in an ODI series and they look pretty strong here at the tournament so far. So just how much do you rate them?
Sophie: Oh, look, I think they’re an absolutely quality side and we've seen by their performances so far, I think you know, I think absolutely - you look at them with the board - Ismail, Kapp, Khaka - you know, they've got strengths all the way through that bowling lineup and with the bat as well. So, we know I guess the quality of side that we're going to have to take on tomorrow but we also know that we've got some great matchups, we've got some great challenges ahead. And we know when we play our best cricket we can beat anyone, so but I think it's going to be real humdinger of a game tomorrow and certainly looking forward to it - obviously the wickets throughout this tournament have been fantastic. They've been conducive to run scoring which makes for entertaining cricket. So look, I'm expecting a lot of the same tomorrow night.
Reporter: Just finally for me - is it mentally challenging to kind of flush a game like what happened against Australia, especially the batting effort or has it been relatively easy to move on?
Sophie: Certainly something I think as you get older it gets easier to do because if you hold on to games like that, they can certainly chew away at you. So I think that comes down to the real support of the team as well. The support staff have been fantastic - obviously you want to take key learnings out of losses like that, but also you need to move forward. The longer you dwell on it the more energy it sucks out of you - so as a group we've made a real focus to take what we can from that game and move forward.
Reporter: You just mentioned that the pitches have been really conducive to batting. And teams often talk about wanting to start their batting innings with intent. But we've not really seen teams being able to get away in the first 10 overs. Do you have any thoughts about why that could be?
Sophie: The bowlers are really good. I think you've got to give credit to bowlers and I think particularly some of the lineups that you've got here at this tournament are world class and it has been difficult. I think you've seen teams having to absorb early and then I guess punch back later in the innings and I think that does fully comes down to the quality of the bowling opposition and how they're able to restrict - teams planning obviously is playing a big part and you're seeing some really, I guess strategic moves with bowling options, with field sets, which I think made for really some intriguing battles between bat versus ball but I think you know, we're still seeing scores regularly over 250 which I think is fantastic to see.
Reporter: Just wanting to ask - South Africa have depended a lot on Laura Wolvaardt. Surely she would have featured big time in the meetings that you had, but also a few batters who haven't clicked - is there almost - or studies built around such kind of players to continue to keep them under pressure?
Sophie: Certainly I think as you mentioned. Laura's a fantastic player. I think she's been probably one of the foreign players over the last couple of years and she is a real linchpin for the South African side. I think though, the thing for us that we keep coming back to is what are our strengths and what are our best ball's to bowl to the opposition – and these small tweaks that you make with different sort of field sets or ends or variations. But at the end of the day, we know that we've got to focus on ourselves because if we again give too much energy, too much focus on the opposition, I guess we're giving them a little bit of power.
So for us it's a real focus on ourselves and what our skills are, what our strengths are, so absolutely give credit to them. But we know when we're doing well we're staying with what our strengths are.
Reporter: And one thing on your strength has been the tactics in this tournament. You've had very clear and very different tactics against different sides, different batters. Can you give us how much work has gone into developing those tactics over maybe the years?
Sophie: Yeah, look, I think I'm extremely fortunate that I've got a really experienced bunch of players around me I think you look at Suzie Bates and Amy and with the coaching staff as well - but we've got some absolute cricket masters on our side when you look at Frankie Mackay and Katie Martin as well and so there's so much I guess experience and knowledge within this group - so there's been a lot of planning has gone into it. There's been a lot of cricket and footage has been watched but I guess it's only as good as the execution - we could plan for hours and hours on end but if we can't, I guess back to bowlers to execute, it's all for nothing. So look - does go a lot into it behind the scenes but again it falls back on the bowlers being able to execute it with the ball.