With the end result never in doubt, it was the manner of the win that mattered, and Australia delivered a mixed bag as they downed South Africa 68-36 in their quad series netball match on Thursday.

The comfortable win resembled the 63-31 scoreline from last week's match in Newcastle, although there were still a few communication lapses and coach Lisa Alexander would probably have been happier with a few less turnovers and a lower error rate.

Alexander had targeted a strong start from the Diamonds, and was looking to build on last Sunday's 20-goal demolition of the Silver Ferns.

She afterwards described the effort as a little scratchy, but said that was only to be expected, given the unavailability of midcourters Natalie von Bertouch and Kim Greene.

"We really had to work that centre structure - it's a lot different to what we first expected," Alexander said.

That meant the Australian defenders had to work extra hard on transition, and Alexander was pleased with what she saw from Bianca Chatfield, Bec Bulley, Chanel Gomes and on-court captain Mo'onia Gerrard.

"I thought they still did very well - Bianca relished the opportunity to go out against goal shoot Chrisna Bootha, who's a great opponent, and Bec did a great job on her in the second half," she said.

Alexander was also pleased with the way the attacking line-up readjusted to changes in the shooting circle.

"Caitlin Bassett and Caitlin Thwaites, even though they're both holding shooters, they're very different and where you put the ball is very different," she said.

"We work a lot on that in training, and it's an area we need to improve because they're both goal-scoring machines."

Thwaites, in her starting debut, shot 23 from 23 while Bassett bagged 24 from 26.

Gerrard also gave her team a cautious pass mark, happy with the way a range of combinations improved as the game progressed.

"We really focused on keeping the intensity and building combinations on that link between defence and attack," Gerrard said.

"It was just a bit of a shame we let things slip in the first five minutes."

Sparked by a livewire performance from centre Bongiwe Msomi and rookie wing attack Nadia Uys, the Proteas snuck out to an early lead and managed to match the Australians until midway through the opening quarter.

But once the Australians found their timing, their accuracy into Bassett proved all but unstoppable.

Ahead 19-9 after 15 minutes, and 33-18 at halftime, the Diamonds ran with a completely rejigged line-up for the second half.

The new combination took time to bed, but they still managed to take a 48-28 lead into the last 15 minutes, extending the margin to take the final spell 20-8 and underline a dominant win.