Bruised, battered and wounded – not in body, but in pride – the Diamonds hobbled into Saturday’s Commonwealth Games semi final against the host nation England.
The historic loss to Jamaica cast its shadow over the upcoming match. A loss was not necessarily a concern in itself – in 2015 the Diamonds lost a pool match to New Zealand and went on to win the gold medal match against the same opposition.
But a loss to Jamaica was emblematic of a new world order. It was the first time Australia had lost to Jamaica at a major tournament.
No longer are Australia and New Zealand the untouchable favourites to be feared by any and all opposition. In the not-too-distant past, a semi final against England would have been merely a formality, a mildly testing warm up to the main event of a trans-Tasman final.