England's maiden appearance in the Netball World Cup final ended in heartbreak as the Roses fell to a 61-45 defeat to Australia in Cape Town.
Jess Thirlby's side had stunned former champions New Zealand in the final four to reach the showpiece event for the first time in their history, and they ended the first quarter tied at 13-13 with the Australians.
However, the Diamonds' quality shone through as the game progressed, as a beleaguered England conceded 34 points during the final two quarters to accept a silver medal.
"We are really grateful for that silver medal and over time I'm sure that it will sink in. But right now it is a measure of the belief we had in ourselves, the route we took to the final...[that we are disappointed]," Thirlby told BBC Sport.
For the first time in @NetballWorldCup history 🥈
— England Netball (@EnglandNetball) August 6, 2023
🌹 The Vitality Roses left it all out on the court today and have inspired so many on their incredible journey, making history this #NWC2023.
We are so proud of our Roses 🫶 pic.twitter.com/2ZnOdxRHob
"We are obviously gutted with a losing margin like that in our first final but such is the difference between seasoned finalists and a team in their first final.
"The win on Thursday, we hit some of our biggest stats ever against Australia, and still only won by one, so we weren't complacent about things.
"Today was always going to be a tough ask, you just can't throw ball like that against Australia in a final. If we do that we need to find a way to win it back. Unfortunately both of those things alluded us for long periods during the match."
Australia's triumph marked their record-extending 12th Netball World Cup crown, while in the bronze medal match, Jamaica finished on the podium for the fourth time thanks to a 52-45 beating of New Zealand.
Ben Knapton
