England missed out on Vitality Netball Nations Cup victory after being thrashed 69-49 by world champions Australia in the final in Leeds.
The Vitality Roses had edged a one-goal win over New Zealand on Saturday to book another clash with Australia, who beat them in July’s World Cup final and narrowly defeated them in last week’s meeting in London.
England finished the opening quarter strongly to reduce Australia’s advantage to four goals, before the visitors claimed six unanswered goals on their way to opening a 33-23 half-time advantage.
Australia’s Paige Hadley (left) impressed for the Diamonds throughout the series
Any hopes of a Vitality Roses comeback were dashed when a dominant quarter from Australia extended their cushion to 18 points, with the Diamonds then increasing their winning margin in the final quarter to wrap up a dominant victory.
Sophie Garbin was awarded player of the match for her 97 per cent shooting accuracy, while Diamonds vice-captain Paige Hadley was named player of the series for her role in Australia’s four victories over the past two weekends.
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Jess Thirlby felt England didn’t follow the game plan in their 69-49 loss to Australia but was proud to reach the final of the Nations Cup
Earlier, New Zealand beat debutant Uganda 62-57 to claim third place.
Thirlby: England ‘outclassed’ by Australia
England head coach Jess Thirlby: “We didn’t put into play the things that we’ve spoken about. I think there’s a real clarity of those easy wins that we could have put in place.
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Jess Thirlby felt England didn’t follow the game plan in their 69-49 loss to Australia but was proud to reach the final of the Nations Cup
“We stayed within touching distance going into half-time and it was such a shame we let that slip, so our responses today weren’t at the level they need to be against a team like Australia.
“I think we were out schooled at times today and really respect what Australia did, but I loved the fight back. I think we always do that, but the margin just got too big, too quick.
We know we’re capable, but we get punished in those moments and rightly so, so we have to be smarter and that’s where we’re at. I’m super proud that we’ve put ourselves in this position, because it keeps telling the stuff that we need to know and we got three years to keep building on that.”