Australia netball star Sophie Garbin has defended the team's kit after complaints it is 'inappropriate' and players risk a wardrobe malfunction.
Australia's strong start in Glasgow
The Diamonds arrived in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games defending their crown. They beat England 66-47 on Sunday to top Pool A, following a dominant 99-38 opening win against Tonga.
Garbin, 29, scored 41 goals from 42 attempts against England, despite appearing to have problems with the tight team dress.
Kit under scrutiny
Australian players were seen pulling their dresses down to avoid an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction. Fans criticised the cut and appropriate nature of the kit on social media.
One user said: “The cut of these Australian dresses is terrible. They keep riding up as soon as the players move.” Another slammed: “Any athlete deserves to be wearing appropriate and comfortable clothing. This clearly isn’t the case.” A third moaned: “I can’t imagine it’s easy to focus on playing a game when you know you have your lower half on display every time you take a step.”
Garbin's response
Garbin defended the kit, saying: “I feel like, as a netballer, I’m always tugging my dress down. Obviously we’ve noticed lots of the comments from other people, but on the court we’re used to dresses coming up and down. I don’t think it’s affecting our performance, so it’s OK. I feel like we might have a look at what we can do in the next couple of days, but we love our dress. We love what Valour have done with the pattern and the fabric and everything, so we’re really proud to wear it.”
Australia next face Malawi on Tuesday as they continue their Commonwealth Games title defence.
