The Commonwealth Games title has ended in Australian hands on four of the seven occasions it has been contested, most recently at Birmingham 2022.

The one England win was an unforgettable one, with victory coming in the last second of the 2018 final on Australian soil in Gold Coast.

New Zealand have claimed gold twice - at Melbourne 2006 and Delhi 2010. 

England and Australia had each won their opening Pool A game on the first day of competition and were widely expected to be the two sides progressing to the semi-finals from this side of the draw.

After a tight first five minutes Australia showed their ruthless streak, repeatedly stealing the ball back to score seven times in a row on their way to an 18-11 first-quarter lead

A 35-24 half-time advantage thanks to some lightning combinations and unerring shooting accuracy grew to an eventual 66-47 win for Australia's Diamonds.

A physical and often feisty game, there were running battles between goal keepers and goal shooters on both sides. It was also a real statement of intent from the champions, underlining their status as the world No.1.

“We had a lot of Scots barracking for us, everyone told us to go smash the English girls,” said Sophie Garbin who contributed 41 goals for Australia, scoring with all but one of her shots.

“We knew we’d have a lot of support here but they would as well so it was awesome. You want to play these games in front of these crowds in this amazing arena."
Sophie Garbin

"England put up a really good fight I thought, their defence was really physical and put us under pressure pretty much the whole game so it was good to put the scoreboard pressure on them and come away with the win.”

England centre Amy Carter admitted Australia’s game plan disrupted them a little too much.

“We were a bit shocked at the start by the physicality, we weren’t structured enough in terms of standing up to it, being the first ones to loose balls.

"But that stuff is easy to fix to be honest, we’ll journey through and sort those things out.”

Earlier a full house at The Hydro saw Scotland record their first win of the competition in Pool B, a 56-47 success against Wales.

Leah Middleton of Team Wales interacts with Cerys Finn of Team Scotland following the Netball Preliminary Pool B match between Team Wales and Team Scotland on day three of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games

Photography Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

“That was a big match for us, Wales is always a closely contested one when we play them,” said Emma Barrie, who inflicted plenty of damage on the Welsh with 39 goals from 41 attempts.

“Those in front of me were able to land me under the post most times, giving me great ball so it makes my job easier just to turn and shoot.”

World No.2 New Zealand, and Jamaica - the beaten finalists from 2022 - went right to the wire before the Silver Ferns took it 53-48, Grace Nweke adding another 47 goals to her tally.

Malawi surged to a first-quarter 19-9 lead over Northern Ireland in the afternoon session, and despite much better second and third quarters from the Irish, the African side closed out the game with a dominant last 15 minutes, securing a 64-48 victory.

South Africa and Uganda racked up big scores to make it two wins out of two.

South Africa beat Tonga 96-42, with goal shooter Rolene Streutker (51) becoming the first player to score more than 50 goals in a game this tournament. Uganda overcame Trinidad and Tobago 80-36

All the teams have three more preliminary matches to go.

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