Australia crush England to win Netball World Cup – as Diamonds star reveals the Poms’ joke that ‘got everyone fighting’

Australia delivered a dominant performance to win the Netball World Cup for the 12th time and recapture the crown with a clinical and classy 61-45 victory over England in the final in Cape Town.

The Diamonds were much more ruthless and precise than in their one-goal loss to England on Thursday in the group stage and Sunday’s final was effectively over in three-quarters time with Australia taking a ten-goal lead.

Australia converted more turnovers into goals than England, circle backs Courtney Bruce and Jo Weston being particularly outstanding.

Inspired by some of the comments coming from the England camp after their group defeat, the Diamonds delivered one of their best performances, according to their outgoing star Ash Brazill after her last match.

There were wild scenes on the stroke of full-time as the Diamonds created a piece of history

“I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for the last 10 minutes,” said Brazill.

England beat us in the rounds and everyone loved aiming for us. Helen (Housby, the England star) said they were fitter and more energetic than us and that got everyone fighting.

“We really wanted to beat Jamaica (in the semi-finals) so we could play these guys again, and we did it the way we wanted to. The last two games have been some of the best netball we’ve played in a long time.

“I am so proud of these girls. The fact that we are standing here as world champions, I couldn’t wish for a better ending. I’m never going to play netball again – how can I top this?’

Coach Stacey Marinkovich called the same starting seven for the third straight game, but replaced both shooters in the second quarter.

“That’s the class of this group that I can appeal to everyone and they’re going to come out and play their part and they’ve been doing that all tournament long,” said Marinkovich.

The score was tied at 13-13 at the quarter-time, but Australia pulled away at both ends of half-time to beat England 14-10 in the second and 19-13 in the third.

Retiring Diamonds star Ash Brazill (right) revealed that a joke by England’s Helen Housby (left) about the Aussies’ fitness and intensity fueled their drive to win

They kept their intensity until the end and won the last quarter 15-9.

“It’s incredible to come back the way we did (after losing to England),” Diamonds captain and wing forward Liz Watson said.

“This group, I’m so proud to lead them, it’s a great group of athletes.”

With South African President Cyril Ramaphosa among those enjoying the action in the crowd, England’s best moments came when they took a double lead of one early in the second quarter.

Marinkovich changed her shooting combination with Sophie Garbin (27/32) and player of the match Kiera Austin (15/17) ahead of starters Cara Koenen (10/10) and Steph Wood (9/10).

Weston and Bruce forced turnovers with Australia and then scored four unanswered goals to build a 27-23 lead.

The Diamonds couldn’t hide their joy after overcoming their old enemies. Courtney Bruce (back to camera) was named the defender of the tournament

“This group, I’m so proud to lead them, it’s an amazing group of athletes,” said Aussie skipper Liz Watson (right)

Goal attack Austin said: ‘We promised to write our own script and we did.’

Bruce was named the tournament’s defender, New Zealand’s Kate Heffernan the main midfielder and Housby both the league’s player and shooter.

“I’m just so proud of the girls that they all came out, that was like a collective effort,” said Marinkovich.

‘England were stylish, they were tough, we had to be at our best.’

Previously, Jamaica had earned their fourth World Cup bronze medal with a 52-45 win over 2019 champions New Zealand in the third place play-offs.

Jhaniele Fowler shot 43 from 44 for Jamaica to seal New Zealand’s worst ever World Cup result, the first time they have failed to medal.