England thrash NI for opening netball win

England opened their Commonwealth Games netball campaign with a comprehensive 83-34 victory over Northern Ireland in Pool A.

The 2018 champions flew into a 24-7 lead before Northern Ireland managed to slow England's scoring.

However, the Warriors were unable to overcome the gulf as third-ranked England took the opportunity to rotate their squad in the second half.

Experienced shooter Eleanor Cardwell came on after half-time to score 35 of her 37 shots, a higher amount than the Northern Ireland team combined, as England's class told.

The Roses are seeking to regain the title they won in the Gold Coast after failing to make the podium four years later in Birmingham, but have experienced a rocky build-up to the competition.

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

The side's head coach Jess Thirlby stepped down from the role in March because of family reasons, leaving assistant Anna Stembridge to take interim charge for a second spell after a stint as head coach from 2011-2015.

England will next play reigning champions Australia, who stormed to a 99-38 victory over Tonga, at 11:00 BST on Sunday.

Hosts Scotland fell to a 74-44 Pool B defeat by 2022 bronze medallists New Zealand in the opening match of the competition.

Next up for the Scots is a fixture against Wales, who suffered a 59-50 defeat by Uganda after a costly third quarter.

The Welsh led 31-28 at half-time then lost the next period 17-8, with Uganda holding firm for victory.

England captain Fran Williams will know plenty about the Roses' next opponents, Australia.

The 28-year-old plays for Perth-based team West Coast Fever in the Australian league and is expecting an intense encounter with the top-rated team on Sunday.

"Physicality, that in abundance, is the Aussie style of play and you just have to be part of that to see what that intensity looks like," Williams told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"I'm excited to see how we match up. You want to play the world's best and they are the world's best at the moment.

"I love the pressure of that, those games that really challenge, and it's so good to get that kind of game so early in a competition too."

The contest will mark just the second Commonwealth Games appearance for Williams, who has won a silver and bronze at the World Cup for England.

But their emphatic win over Northern Ireland has helped ease any of those debut jitters.

"I'm proud of that being our first performance knowing we've had 10 Commonwealth debuts out there," Williams added.

"It's important that we showed lots of different combinations and tested out our whole 12."