Australia have bounced back from their quarter-final defeat with a 19-0 victory over Great Britain.
It was a far from convincing performance in coach Tim Walsh’s eyes as the hosts struggled with handling errors.
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However, the class of the defending World Series champions ultimately shone through as they came away with the win.
“No (it wasn’t pleasing). I don’t think we performed that well at all,” Walsh said with a smile.
“I think we defended well but we couldn’t hold onto the ball. We could’ve put 40 on them.
“It was a little bit disappointing but they got the win and put in the effort.”
After last night’s loss to France, the Australians emerged from the tunnel with a point to prove, with Faith Nathan instantly getting the turnover and spreading it wide to Bienne Terita for the first try inside 40 seconds.
Nathan looked to have one of her own before GB speedster Jasmine Joyce produced an incredible ankle tap to dislodge the ball.
This set up a stalemate between the two sides as neither attack fired heading into the second half.
The stats point to Walsh's frustration, with the team conceding ten turnovers as they failed to click in attack until the end.
World Player of the Year Charlotte Caslick provided the spark needed, touching down in the corner for her 141st try on the World Series, going level with Ella Green as Australia’s highest-ever try scorer.
Sariah Paki finished the game off, racing under the posts off a Teagan Levi offload.
The Australians will finish their campaign battling Fiji for fifth (5:22 pm AEDT) as Walsh looks to take the learnings from this tournament ahead of next year’s Paris Olympics
“It’s an unknown for us in terms of the distractions that are forthcoming and the excitement and emotional energy of it,” he believes.
“Certainly, it’s a character magnification and something they have worked hard at in the past. They came out here and gave everything which was good but they have to do it on both ends in attack and defence."
Australia 19 (TRIES: Caslick, Paki, Terita; CONS Hinds 2) def Great Britain 0
