Australia fought back to snatch a 61-59 victory over England in Sunday’s Nations Cup fixture at Wembley Arena in London.
England came from five points down at 33-28 after the half-time break to lead by two at 45-43, but failed to hold on.
England next face New Zealand in their third clash of the tournament on Saturday January 27 at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, live on Sky Sports at 5pm, having beaten Uganda 62-56 in their opening match.
“It really hurts because we know we’re capable,” head coach Jess Thirlby told Sky Sports.
“We’ve let ourselves down and gifted that game to them a bit because our errors were really poor. Missed shots, really uncharacteristic. In those small moments we let ourselves down.
“I loved the fight [and it was] brilliant we found more turnover against Australia and we rewarded most of that. But missed shots, a few passing errors, those are things we have to keep working on and get rid of from our game.”
Earlier on Sunday, New Zealand registered a 65-60 win over Uganda.
Australia have won all eight trophies they have contested since the start of 2022, including the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2023 World Cup in Cape Town.
Saturday January 27 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
Watch live from 2.30-7.30pm
Australia vs Uganda: 3pm
England vs New Zealand: 5pm
Sunday January 28 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
Watch live from 1.30-6pm
Third-place play-off: 2pm
Final: 4.15pm
All fixtures will also be available to watch on Sky Sports Arena and to stream with NOW.