Australia win Netball World Cup to bring curtain down on SA showpiece

Australia reclaimed the Netball World Cup after defeating England 61-45 in the final of the tournament at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Sunday.

It brought the curtain down on an epic spectacle and Africa's first ever Netball World Cup. 

The trophy was presented to Australia by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa. 

Earlier in the evening in the bronze medal playoff, Jamaica defeated New Zealand for the second time in a matter of days to secure their first podium place since 2007 while, earlier in the day, the Proteas lost to Uganda to finish 6th at their home showpiece. 

Having lost out to New Zealand by just one goal in the last Netball World Cup final in Liverpool four years ago, Australia ensured there would be no repeat scenario when they defeated England on Sunday.

England were playing in their first ever Netball World Cup final after beating defending champions New Zealand in the semifinal while the Australians were contesting their ninth consecutive gold-medal match, having never finished lower than second in the tournament’s 60-year history.

Australia came out firing to take a two-goal lead after the opening exchanges, Steph Wood proving to be the creative force for the Diamonds on attack early on.

England coach Jess Thirlby responded immediately, bringing on Fran Williams for Layla Guscoth at goal defence.

The move proved an effective one with the Roses managing to close the gap and equalise at 12-12, but throwing away their opportunity to edge in front while the Australians were doing well to hold onto their possession.

That winning feeling ??Australia claim their TWELFTH Netball World Cup ??#NWC2023 | @AussieDiamonds pic.twitter.com/VLGswMP6Sm

There was nothing to separate the teams by the