England 45-Australia 61: Vitality Roses lose Netball World Cup final to 12-time champions

Having made history with their presence, England were unable to apply the fairytale finish to their netball World Cup campaign as they sank to a sweeping 61-45 defeat to the mighty Australians in Sunday’s final.

Prior to this tournament, England head coach Jess Thirlby had instructed her side to ‘go where no Roses team has gone before’. They did so by reaching the final for the first time in the tournament’s long history.

But hopes of returning from Cape Town with a maiden World Cup trophy were dashed by an Australian demolition job in the second half.

Four goals up at half-time, the world No. 1 side proceeded to trample their opponents into submission, routinely breaking through any semblance of an England attacking threat to prevail by a huge 16-goal margin.

It was a humbling score that accurately reflected the divide between those who had been there so many times and others who are breaking new ground. English tears in the aftermath were a mixture of disappointment and pride.

“We are very grateful for that silver medal and I am sure it will sink in time,” said Thirlby. “But right now (the disappointment) is a measure of the faith we had in ourselves.

“Obviously we’re gutted about such a losing margin in our first final, but that’s the difference between seasoned finalists and a team in their first final.

“Today was always going to be a tough question. You just can’t throw a ball like that against Australia in a final. If we do, we have to find a way to win it back. Both things unfortunately eluded us for a long time during the match.’

While silver equaled England’s best World Cup result – after also finishing second in a round-robin tournament in 1975 – the ambition was to match the historic achievement of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where they beat Australia to to claim their first-ever major gold medal.

Thirlby would have opted to field the same seven starting line-ups that beat New Zealand in the semi-finals, and it would have been encouraging to see her side keep an eye on their more illustrious opponents early on, although England never raised eyebrows were far from frowned upon.

Moments of joy were often followed by frustration; positive thoughts quickly tempered by Australian brilliance. As the Aussies have repeatedly shown, there’s a reason they’ve never made it to a World Cup final.

If England’s four-goal deficit at half-time wasn’t the loud ringing of an alarm bell, it felt like the annoying beeping of a fridge door left open: quick action is required or serious trouble awaits.

When these two sides met in the group stage earlier this week, England had six goals behind them at half-time, to triumph by one to claim their first ever World Cup victory over Australia. Not this time.

A flurry of unanswered Australian goals early in the third period soon widened the gap to eight and the world’s most successful netball nation worked its way to even more silverware.

“They had the upper hand on us today and they deserved to win,” said England goalscorer Ellie Cardwell. “But there are so many positives.

“This is my first World Cup and there are many more girls for whom this is their first World Cup. It is the first World Cup final for any English player. Many of those (Australian) Diamonds players have a lot of experience with korfball.

“I am super proud of us for making history and coming away with a silver medal. Last year at the Commonwealth Games we came fourth and that was heartbreaking. Now it’s heartbreaking that we don’t have gold, but we do have silver.’