It felt like groundhog day for the Diamonds on day two of the Netball World Cup, as they overcome a nervous start to power home with three strong quarters to defeat Tonga Tala 85-38.
The huge victory means the Australian side claim top spot in Group A with a 276.9 per cent for-and-against percentage in the first round of the preliminary stages.
It was the first time the two teams had met at the World Cup and in the first quarter you could tell the Diamonds were unsure of what to expect from a side that just 16 months ago was unranked but has quickly climbed its way to world number seven.
Throughout their three appearances at the Pacific Aus Sports Series – run in partnership between Netball Australia and DFAT – as well as the Oceania qualifiers, Tala have built an inexperienced but solid team based on Australian and New Zealand-born players with Tonga heritage.
These young guns have bonded over a love of culture and their strength as a group means they have enjoyed a 21-game winning streak up until now, even beating a higher-ranked Malawi in that time.
Add in a couple of legends for the World Cup — with the comebacks of former Diamonds defender Mo'onia Gerrard and tri-international Cat Tuivaiti who has represented Samoa and New Zealand in the past — and their cult status among fans has rocketed to a new level.
Gerrard, who is the aunt of Tala defender Kelea Iongi, made her debut for the side yesterday against Fiji, but has more caps combined in her previous career with the Diamonds (68) than any of the current Australian squad.
As such, many have adopted this lovable group as a second team, joining the already loud Tongan contingent that travel to sing in perfect Pacific Islander harmony from the stands.
With so many state league players from Victoria, NSW and Queensland wearing the red dress, even diehard Diamonds fans could be forgiven for feeling a little torn in their allegiance in this match.
Both teams came into day two off the back of victories with a desire to keep the ball rolling.
Australia coach Stacey Marinkovich made three changes to her starting line-up following the Diamonds' 56-goal win over Zimbabwe – giving Jamie-Lee Price, Sarah Klau and Kiera Austin the nod – while Tonga's Jaqua Pori-Makea-Simpson made two of her own after a tight tussle against Fiji, which her side won 56-51.
One of these was to give Gerrard the start against her old team, favouring her experience and knowledge of the Australian set-up.
The opening quarter was evenly matched and produced some of the best netball we have seen so far in Cape Town as the two sides wrestled for the upper hand, and although the Diamonds scored seven unanswered goals to take a 10-3 lead midway through, Tala's spirit saw them swing momentum.
A focus on steering the ball to target Uneeq Palavi saw the Victoria-based player stand up to score eight goals to Australia's three in seven minutes and bring Tonga back within two at the break, 15-13.
Tala centre Hulita Veve was electric during this fightback, pouncing on any loose ball and helping to guide it up the court in transition. But it really hurt the Diamonds' stats, who finished the quarter with just 39 per cent possession, 14 penalties to Tonga's nine and a poor conversion rate.
With the game evenly poised, fans hoped the contest would continue to rumble, but after such an impressive start, Tonga Tala unravelled.
The Diamonds very much approached the second period as a clean slate and came out flying to score 10 goals straight through the likes of Cara Koenen and Austin.
Klau had already got a couple of tips on the ball in the opening quarter, but by now she was raring to go and wearing Tala shooter Marie Hansen like a glove.
Four minutes in, sensing her team were faltering, Pori-Makea-Simpson injected Tuivaiti into the match at goal shooter, while shifting Hansen to wing attack and Palavi to goal attack.
Tuivaiti, now 36, is always a difficult player to mark due to her unrivalled flair and unpredictability.
Throughout her 33 minutes on court, the veteran did her best to play an unorthodox hybrid of a moving and holding circle, supporting the younger players.
Sometimes her efforts to try and act as a third feeder and set up Palavi worked; other times the Tala midcourters were not quite ready for the no-look pass to come their way.
Tonga went on to concede 30 more turnovers across the final three quarters and score just 25 goals to Australia's 70. Overall, it was a flat finish after a promising contest.
Most of Tonga's difficulty came at the centre-pass, where the Diamonds did a good job at holding back their attackers, panicking Tala and forcing them to look back to their defenders.
Sometimes they were able to get out of jail free with this method – at half-time wing defence Lucia Fauonuku had more centre-pass receives than anyone else (seven) – but other times Austin and Watson forced their defenders wide and pounced on the desperate play.
With a healthy lead at half-time, 38-19, the Diamonds were well and truly in the box seat and Marinkovich was able to repeat a similar pattern to the substitutions she made against Zimbabwe.
Once again we saw five changes in this main break, with a completely different shooting combination running out for the third quarter as Sophie Garbin and Steph Wood paired up in the circle.
Jo Weston and Sunday Aryang brought fresh legs at goal defence and wing defence, while Paige Hadley – after a cracking performance on day one – came on with energy to burn at wing attack.
Despite the wholesale changes, the third quarter was the quickest and slickest of the match.
Vice-captain Wood, in her 50th game for Australia, worked beautifully as the linchpin that held the Diamonds front-end together. Driving into space and luring her defender, she created a safe passage for the pass to come into Garbin under the post.
Hadley in wing attack was another welcome change, sending in rocket feeds to catch the opposition defenders off guard. She has been perhaps the most consistent and reliable player for Australia across their first two games of the tournament so far.
The ball speed and quick thinking of these two players kept Tala out of the contest, unable to pinch a single bit of ball in the last half.
Speaking with ABC Sport, Iongi said the side was still trying to find their rhythm as they made the step up to the World Cup stage.
"The first quarter was a great example of what we can do, I reckon if we replicate what we did there across the game that we can give a lot of these teams a run for their money," she said.
"We're all young, it's good experience. A lot of us have looked up to these Diamonds girls and wanted to be like them in the green and gold dress at some point, so it was cool to play against them."
Commenting on the breakdown in connections up front, Iongi also conceded Tala were still trying to figure out how to play alongside the flair of legend Tuivaiti.
"In a way, she doesn't play like a regular shooter, she has all these tricks and you never know when the ball is coming," Longi said.
"So I think we've got to stay ready for those balls and although the attackers have worked on that, I think we're still trying to fit her in."
On day three of the World Cup, the Australians face Fiji — who sit second in Group A with a better for-and-against percentage than Tonga — but they will be keeping one eye on England as the Roses are set to be their toughest challenge in the second stage of the preliminary rounds.