World champions Australia made a statement on Thursday night as they dismantled a misfiring England outfit to claim the opening match of their three Test series by 13 goals. The Roses were blown off the court in a horror first half that saw coach Jess Thirlby admit her side was “schooled” by the Diamonds. The loss has left England with more questions than answers after Thirlby was forced to change every position in a third term that the visitors did actually win.
Every Diamonds v Roses match live and exclusive to Fox Sports, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today > We review the game one talking points. COACH’S EPIC ROAST AFTER FIRST HALF DEMISE England arrived down under with a promise to take it up to the world number one Diamonds.
But instead we saw a first half debacle where the Roses were unable to treasure position and repeatedly coughed up easy ball to Australia. Ex-Rose Stacey Francis-Bayman said the Roses lacked “that level of ruthlessness and presence of mind in the moment that you have to really execute at international standard”. And that wasn’t the worst of the criticism, with Roses coach Jess Thirlby brutally honest in her opinion of where it all went wrong as she said her side was “schooled” at both ends of the court in the first half.
“We had the Aussies going back on maybe first or second phase off that centre pass but it was there after we needed to have better intent,” she said post-match. “Being shadows in defence.