Dame Noeline Taurua has launched a vigorous defence of her Silver Ferns, after a 48-all Netball World Cup draw against South Africa.
Despite their status as reigning world champions, New Zealand's fate will be decided in their final Group G match on Thursday night (NZ time), when they face Jamaica with a semi-finals spot at stake.
Thursday morning's result saw them fail to get over the line from what should have been a winning position - outscored 5-2 in the final minutes to fall to a stalemate.
Already underdogs at this World Cup, up against contenders Australia, England and Jamaica, a draw dents the Ferns' ambitions of retaining their title for the first time.
In some sense, the loss of Grace Nweke has been offset by the form of Maia Wilson inside the shooting circle, but the clash against South Africa was one they should have won.
Asked whether her side "cracked under the pressure", Dame Noeline has launched a ferocious defence of her team.
"Calm down, mate," Taurua began. "A draw is a draw, let's put this out there - it's a draw.
"I hate the word 'cracked', I think that's disrespectful to people. If you want to put that out on the line, I don't really like that word."
While a draw is disappointing for the Silver Ferns, the split points should be enough for New Zealand to reach the semi-finals.
Barring a huge loss to Jamaica and a large enough victory for South Africa over Uganda, Dame Noeline's side will likely finish Group G and face the winners of Group F - almost certainly Australia.
They will finish the group stage against Jamaica, who got the better of them at last year's Commonwealth Games, but Dame Noeline insists there are enough positives to halt any panic within the team's ranks.
"There were areas that people could have done better, but that's how it goes," she continued. "I thought they rose to the occasion.
"I actually thought it was a really good game. There are areas, once again… we were 90 percent shooting, in comparison to 76.
"We had 55 percent possession of the ball, in comparison to 44. When we needed to turn over in that last 30 seconds or hold the ball, we didn't.
"Those are the things we need to keep learning and moving forward."
Join Newshub at 9pm Thursday for live updates of the NZ v Jamaica World Cup clash
