Australia claimed bragging rights over England once again by thrashing the hosts at the First Direct Arena in Leeds; the Diamonds claimed a 69-49 victory over the Vitality Roses, with Sophie Garbin being named player of the match
Monday 29 January 2024 15:34, UK
England head coach Jess Thirlby admitted her side were outsmarted by world champions Australia in their 69-49 Nations Cup final defeat in Leeds on Sunday.
Australia dominated England once again, just six months after beating the hosts in the World Cup in Cape Town, to claim the Nations Cup title.
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.
“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," said Thirlby.
“I thought we started the game lovely and thought there was quite a nice feel in the team and nice confidence. In those moments where they broke us, I think you saw a little bit of grit.
“We stayed within touching distance going into half-time and it was such a shame we let that slip, so our responses weren't at the level they need to be against a team like Australia.”
England finished the opening quarter strongly to reduce Australia's advantage to four goals, before the tourists scored six unanswered goals on their way to opening up a 33-23 half-time advantage.
The Vitality Roses' chances of a comeback were all but extinguished when Australia extended their cushion to 18 points before wrapping up a dominant win in style.
“We had dead-ball time where it was in our advantage, goal defences pulled out of play, we didn't make smart choices and then we didn't score off it," Thirlby added.
“Those are moments where it should be a shoo-in that we get it in on a two vs one in the circle. So that tells us something about we're not quite there in terms of our game smarts against a very smart team.
“We know where we are. We know we can compete. 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 us the stuff that we need to know and we've got three years to keep building on that.”
The Vitality Roses won a nail-biter against New Zealand on Saturday to book their clash with Australia but the visitors once again caused an upset.
Former England international Tamsin Greenway said England looked "average" during the final with no player being "consistently great throughout".
“I'm not concerned, but I'm not surprised. I didn't think it blew out to 20 goals, but I thought they'd struggle to get the win," Greenway said.
“The problem is we're going through these swings at the moment and it totally depends on combinations, changes that are made, how they adapt when they're out there and understanding why you win.
“The problem was last weekend we lost by two but we played out of our skins and everyone did. Today, everyone was a bit average. If you look across the board and say who was great for England, no one was consistently great throughout.
“That is a bit of a danger because when we're not and we just consistently make all these changes, you're just throwing lambs out to slaughter. We've got to find that middle ground and I'm not sure we've got there yet.
“I think that’s where we're struggling at the minute. We're in that fine line of giving loads of players opportunities, but at the same time it's not always cementing or giving players plenty of time - in the positions they need to - with the right people around them.”
