'Proud' Fran Williams says England 'completely missed the mark' against Australia in battle for bronze in Commonwealth Games netball

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England came up short in their push for bronze in the Commonwealth Games netball, as Australia ran out 68-50 winners on Sunday - and Fran Williams admitted it was a missed opportunity for The Roses in Glasgow.

Tearful Williams admits being 'gutted' but 'proud' despite England missing out on netball bronze

Video credit: TNT Sports

Australia had suffered a shock defeat on Saturday to Jamaica, with the No. 1 side in the world eliminated before the final in a rare upset.
England were soundly defeated by Australia in their Pool A group-stage match-up earlier in the Games, and they were the underdogs once more going into the match on Sunday.
They lost each of their quarters this time - having edged one in the previous meeting - as Australia demonstrated a ruthlessness at the net and when out of possession, which they failed to show in the match against Jamaica.
While England reached roughly where they might have expected at the start of the tournament, and Australia went away with another medal, both teams may be slightly disappointed with their final place in Glasgow.

'It's so tough' - Williams 'so proud' of England team

Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, England's Williams reflected with pride on her country's performance.
She said: "I think it's just so tough, a bronze-medal match. To come off the back of such a short turnaround to play in a game when you'd have rather been in the game later is really hard.
"I was so proud of how we showed up at the start of the game and I think we just showed we weren't able to hold that for long enough, with how the score blew out. We're gutted with that, really disappointed.
"It's another go again at the world No. 1, and you don't get many times in your career up against the world No. 1. So every opportunity is an opportunity to beat the best."
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'Shine bright like a diamond!' - Australia secure bronze after clinical display against England

Video credit: TNT Sports

Williams added that she expected more from her team, both in the current tournament, but also with the World Cup ahead.
"You saw yesterday what it meant to Jamaica and what it meant to world netball. It's huge, massive," she continued in reference to Jamaica's shock win over Australia in the semi-finals.
"That was our opportunity to do something similar today and we completely missed the mark. It's just such a shame. I'm so proud of the team. We've shown so much resilience these 10 days.
"Things haven't fallen for us this time. We’ve got so much growth to come.
"It's just been so hard. It's a group I'm so proud of and how we've been together and supported each other. We love playing netball as a group, and we know we’re better than this.
"There was so much pressure on us to make the semi-final for English netball and I think it was huge, and it would have been massive if we didn't. Maybe we played our final too soon, I don't know."

Full-time - Australia 68-50 England

Cardwell grabs another point at the death, but that's it for the match. 19-11, 16-13, 14-12, 19-14 in the four quarters.
The Diamonds will be pleased with a medal, and England disappointed to fall just short, but neither will be delighted with their campaign overall.

Q4 - Australia 67-48 England

18-12 so far in the final quarter.

Q4 - Australia 66-48 England

Another point for Cardwell.

Q4 - Australia 66-47 England

Two minutes remaining and Cardwell keeps it to 19.

Q4 - Australia 66-46 England

The challenge for England now is to keep the defeat to under 20 points. Australia will be hurting they could not find this dominance yesterday.

Q4 - Australia 64 - 45 England

Pearson gets a point on the board but the gap is getting wild now.

Q3 - Australia 49 - 36 England

14-12 for the quarter and we have just one more period to come now.

Q3 - Australia 48-35 England

13 points the difference now and the Home Nation are starting to betray some frustration as they come off second best in physical challenges around the net.

Q3 - Australia 45-33 England

Cardwell is a making a small difference already with her imposing nature.

Q3 - Australia 43-28 England

That's that, then. Australia come out flying and now have a giant lead. The English will be looking to finish strong now, but that is it.
Cardwell comes on for Tchine.

Q3 - Australia 38-27 England

Australia continue to keep England at arm's length. If they get to Q4 here they will be able to coast to a medal.

Q3 - Australia 35-25 England

England get the first points on the board of the new half.

Half-time - Australia 35-24 England

An eleven-point margin for Australia at half-time. 19-11 in Q1, and 16-13 in this second one.

Q2 - Australia 32-22 England

A few minutes of the half remaining, and they could now force the deficit back to single digits.

Q2 - Australia 32-19 England

England's shooters are efficient, shooting extremely reliably, but the supply is being cut off so tightly.

Q2 - Australia 29-17 England

Australia are first to more balls, with more anticipation forcing turnovers.

Q2 - Australia 26-15 England

Australia are now pulling away once more, and we face a double-digit difference for the two sides at the halfway point, which might end the game as a meaningful contest.

Q2 - Australia 22-14 England

Tchine adds another and the gap is not any bigger so far.

Q2 - Australia 19-12 England

The first stages of this quarter matter to England. If they can force some pressure, it changes the sense of the match.

Q1 - Australia 19-11 England

England know where they stand now. They're on the back foot and unless things change, they are set for fourth place. There was some brief optimism, but that is over now.

Q1 - Australia 17-10 England

The pressure and ruthlessness from Australia is back on show. They are close to getting an unassailable lead here. Glasgow comes on for England.

Q1 - Australia 10-10 England

The match swings back to favour the antipodeans before a foul gives England the chance to level.
About five minutes remaining.

Q1 - Australia 6-7 England

England were 7-5 clear but Australia edge back a tad closer. The Home Nations side are in charge for now. A relatively rare experience against a top side.

Q1 - Australia 3-2 England

There is speculation that Australia will simply be too rattled from not winning yesterday to perform today. Seems like wishful thinking.

Q1 - Australia 1-1 England

Australia get the first point on the board but Tchine hits straight back.

A new selection for England

This side has not started a match before, so England are looking for something new.
England: Adio, Williams, Allison, Carter, Pearson, Shaw, Tchine.

New Zealand defeat England

The other semi-final went like this.

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Highlights: New Zealand beat England to advance to gold medal final

Video credit: TNT Sports

Jamaica defeat Australia

Here is how Australia reached a shot at third place.

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Highlights: Jamaica produce heroics to beat Australia

Video credit: TNT Sports

Australia line-up

Here you go:

Good afternoon

Hello everyone and welcome to live coverage of netball at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
We're back at the Hydro for the bronze medal clash between England and Australia.

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