It was another agonising final defeat at the hands of the world number ones for the Roses, whose inexperience in finals was exposed by a team who know all too well how to win titles.
England beat Australia in the preliminary stages at last year’s World Cup and fell short by just two goals in London last weekend, but on both occasions, went on to lose the final.
“We’re disappointed we weren’t able to bring the things we’ve taken from each performance and implement them in the game early enough and for sustained periods,” Thirlby told BBC Sport.
“Worse than that, we were schooled at times. The game management needs addressing.”
The Roses were nervy at the start as Australia established a seven-goal lead but closed the gap to four by the end of the first quarter.
Defensively, the Roses struggled and Thirlby quickly made changes, bringing on Ellie Rattu, who impressed in the win over New Zealand on Saturday, and shifting Funmi Fadoju to her favoured goal defence position.
But the Australian pressure continued as Courtney Bruce, arguably the world’s best defender, had the better of Sasha Glasgow, while Sophie Garbin and Sophie Dwyer punished mistakes with goals, missing just four shots between them all match.
Boos rang around the arena each time a decision went against the Roses and cheers erupted for every penalty they were awarded, but by the half-time break the mood was flat.
Having roared the Roses on to court before the match, the crowd greeted the half-time buzzer with total silence as Garbin scored to stretch the Diamonds’ lead to 10.
More changes came in the third quarter as Thirlby trialled numerous combinations. But none had the desired effect as England scored just three goals to Australia’s seven inside four third-quarter minutes.
Natalie Metcalf put her head in her hands as Jamie-Lee Price intercepted a wayward pass and the errors kept coming as a dominant Diamonds took a monumental 18-goal lead into the final period.
The final quarter brought much of the same as a frustrated Eleanor Cardwell tried to galvanise her side but the damage had already been done as Australia head coach Stacey Marinkovich made changes at will and England looked shot.
Earlier on Sunday, New Zealand beat Uganda 62-57 in the third-place play-off match.
