England suffer heavy netball defeat by Australia

England's Eleanor Cardwell during the Commonwealth Games defeat by AustraliaGetty Images

Eleanor Cardwell scored 10 goals from 13 attempts after coming on for the final quarter

Emily Salley
BBC Sport journalist

England captain Fran Williams said her team were "far from our best" in a heavy defeat by defending Commonwealth champions Australia.

The Roses opened their campaign in Pool A with a 83-34 victory over Northern Ireland on Saturday.

But they were outplayed on Sunday as Australia cruised to a 66-47 win at The Hydro in Glasgow.

"That's not the result we came for and not the performance," Williams told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"We didn't cope well with their physicality. It's really tough when a game blows out like that."

Australia started strongly, racing into an 18-11 lead after the first quarter and extending their advantage to 56-35 by the end of the third.

Sophie Garbin scored 41 goals from 42 attempts for Australia, while Olivia Tchine was England's highest scorer with 23 from 25.

England face Malawi at 14:00 BST on Monday.

Earlier on Sunday, Scotland picked up their first win in Pool B with a 56-47 victory over Wales.

England, who won gold in 2018, failed to make the podium at Birmingham 2022.

Only two of the 12 players in the squad - Eleanor Cardwell and Imogen Allison - have experience in the Commonwealth Games after injuries to gold medallists Helen Housby and Natalie Metcalf, who withdrew with a calf injury on Monday.

Jess Thirlby stepped down as head coach in March for family reasons, leaving assistant Anna Stembridge - head coach from 2011 to 2015 - in interim charge.

Northern Ireland searching for first win

Lauren McCann
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Northern Ireland fell to their second Pool A defeat as they lost 64-48 to Malawi.

Malawi dominated the first quarter and raced into a 19-9 lead, with Northern Ireland struggling to match their intensity.

Sheonah Forbes' side improved in the second quarter, but Malawi finished strongly to move 35-23 ahead by the half-time break.

The Warriors managed to outscore Malawi in a much more competitive third quarter as they narrowed the gap to 44-38.

But a sharper Malawi outfit pulled further away in the final quarter as they picked up their first win.

Goal shooter Mwayi Kumwenda scored 58 goals from the 59 shots she attempted.

Northern Ireland will be back in action against Tonga on Monday at 16:00.

Pool A and B tables

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