Commonwealth Games 2026: England 47-66 Australia in Pool A

BBC Published Jul 26, 2026 Reviewed Jul 26, 2026 ✓ Reviewed by citations.press editors

Australia defeated England 66-47 in Pool A at the Commonwealth Games 2026, with Sophie Garbin scoring 41 goals from 42 attempts.

66 goals · Australia national netball team47 goals · England national netball team41 goals · Sophie Garbin

England opened their 2026 Commonwealth Games campaign with an 83-34 victory over Northern Ireland.

83 goals · England national netball team34 goals · Northern Ireland national netball team

Eleanor Cardwell scored 10 goals from 13 attempts in England's 66-47 loss to Australia at the Commonwealth Games 2026.

10 goals · Eleanor Cardwell

Only two of the 12-player England squad for the Commonwealth Games 2026—Eleanor Cardwell and Imogen Allison—had prior Commonwealth Games experience.

2 players · England national netball squad

Scotland earned their first win in Pool B at the Commonwealth Games 2026 with a 56-47 victory over Wales.

56 goals · Scotland national netball team47 goals · Wales national netball team

England captain Fran Williams said her team were "far from our best" in a heavy defeat by defending Commonwealth champions Australia.

The Roses opened their campaign in Pool A with a 83-34 victory over Northern Ireland on Saturday.

But they were outplayed on Sunday as Australia cruised to a 66-47 win at The Hydro in Glasgow.

"That's not the result we came for and not the performance," Williams told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"We didn't cope well with their physicality. It's really tough when a game blows out like that."

Australia started strongly, racing into an 18-11 lead after the first quarter and extending their advantage to 56-35 by the end of the third.

Sophie Garbin scored 41 goals from 42 attempts for Australia, while Olivia Tchine was England's highest scorer with 23 from 25.

England face Malawi at 14:00 BST on Monday.

Earlier on Sunday, Scotland picked up their first win in Pool B with a 56-47 victory over Wales.

England, who won gold in 2018, failed to make the podium at Birmingham 2022.

Only two of the 12 players in the squad - Eleanor Cardwell and Imogen Allison - have experience in the Commonwealth Games after injuries to gold medallists Helen Housby and Natalie Metcalf, who withdrew with a calf injury on Monday.

Jess Thirlby stepped down as head coach in March for family reasons, leaving assistant Anna Stembridge - head coach from 2011 to 2015 - in interim charge.

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