World No 1 Australia remained the undisputed champions of world netball when they beat England 61-45 in the final of the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town to claim their 12th crown.
It was the Diamonds’ ninth consecutive appearance in a World Cup final and England’s first time contesting for the title. The Roses couldn’t match their performance of earlier in the week when they beat Australia (56-55) for the first time to top pool F.
England got proceedings underway with the first centre pass and a touch by Australian captain and wing attack Liz Watson turned the ball towards her team’s goal circle. The world No 1 then made sure to retain their own throw-in and went ahead 2-0.
England goal shooter Eleanor Cardwell and goal attack Helen Housby continued their great partnership in the Roses’ circle, commanding the space with swift footwork and accurate shooting. Cardwell was feeding off the crowd, clapping and gesturing “come on” after one of her successful attempts.
Australia built up a four-goal lead halfway through the first quarter, with their attacking players able to feed quality ball to shooters Cara Koenen and Steph Wood. They didn’t miss any of their attempts.
England made their first change with five minutes to go before the first break when Fran Williams replaced Layla Guscoth as goal defence. It immediately had an impact with Williams picking up a vital intercept to send the ball down the court towards her goal circle. England closed the gap to within one.
A goal by Housby on the stroke of halftime, thanks to a brilliant intercept by centre Imogen Allison, levelled matters at 13-all.
Both teams remained unchanged at the start of the second quarter.
Housby continued where she left off at the end of the first quarter, landing another goal to edge England ahead. It wasn’t long, however, before Wood landed three shots of her own for the Diamonds to go two up.
The Australian defenders Courtney Bruce and Jo Weston at times showed frustration with certain decisions by the umpire at their end. Bruce and Housby also had a feisty interaction at one point.
The new defensive combination of Mentor and Williams proved to be effective and to such an extent, that Wood was replaced by Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin came on as goal shooter in the place of Koenen.
In the closing minutes of the first half, Australia managed to build up a four-goal lead thanks to persistent pressure on the English mid-court and turnovers created in the circle. The players went to the changing rooms with the scoreboard reading 27-23 in the Diamonds’ favour.
12TH WORLD CUP TITLE
It was all to play for in the third, or championship quarter, as the penultimate 15 minutes is also known. Housby and Cardwell switched positions as goal attack and goal shooter and for the rest of the quarter, England coach Jess Thirlby continued to change her squad up in an attempt to disrupt Australia’s play. Australia’s only change came when Sarah Klau replaced Jo Weston as goal defence.
Australia raced to an eight-goal lead in the first five minutes of the quarter, forcing England to resort to risky play in order to catch up. The Diamonds started showing their class as the world No 1 and completely outplayed their opponents.
With Australia leading 46-36 at the start of the final 15 minutes of the match, the Diamonds looked assured of adding a 12th World Cup title to their impressive resume.
Despite moments of individual brilliance, England just couldn’t manage to close the gap sufficiently to seriously contest for the gold medal.
When the final hooter went, the scoreboard read 61-45 in Australia’s favour and the Diamonds knew they would be able to defend their title back home in four years’ time at the next World Cup on the Gold Coast.
Most valuable player: Kiera Austin (Australia)
Quarter scores: 13-13 / 27-23 / 46-36 / 61-45
*Earlier, Jamaica defeated New Zealand 52-45 to claim the bronze medal, handing the defending champions their worst-ever result at a World Cup. This is the first time in the history of the tournament, first held in 1963, that the Silver Ferns are walking away without any silverware. Jamaica have now played in seven World Cup bronze medal matches, with four wins in 1991, 2003, 2007 and 2023.