Australia beat England in torrid semi-final, but Diamonds’ sparkle may not last forever

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. But in 2022, the Diamonds came face to face with the very real possibility that for the first time ever, they may not even contest the gold medal match.

The one-goal losses to England and New Zealand, in the last Commonwealth Games and World Cup finals respectively, hurt the Diamonds and stripped their trophy cabinet bare. But not being in the final to begin with enters the realms of the unheard of.

With just over 48 hours passing between their final pool match and the semi final the Diamonds had to find a way to turn that wounded pride into a match-winning performance. It could easily have gone the other way. A team that is dealt the blow of an unexpected loss can turn on each other, look for somewhere to place the blame and fall even deeper into a hole.

At some stages of their semi final match it looked like the Diamonds may have headed down that path. When they appealed to the umpire instead of chasing down a loose ball. When