Vera Pauw happy with Ireland's fight in World Cup opener loss to Australia

Republic of Ireland coach Vera Pauw credited her side's resilience but praised Australia's attacking threats despite the absence of Sam Kerr following their 1-0 loss to the co-hosts of the Women's World Cup.

Steph Catley's 52nd-minute penalty was enough for the Matildas to overcome a stubborn Ireland and put them off to a perfect start in Group B.

The hosts were without captain Kerr, with the Chelsea striker set to miss her next two home World Cup fixtures with a calf injury.

Pauw praised his team's reaction to losing a goal and their overall performance despite the loss.

"It was impossible to change the game in the first half because they (Australia) did very well, but in the second half we found solutions and made changes to make sure we had control in those areas," Pauw said.

"We had more opportunism in our game because we needed to score and I think that worked out really well. Abbie (Larkin) and Lucy (Quinn) were fantastic when they arrived.

"Sam Kerr is of course one of the best strikers in the world, if not the best, so the fact that she didn't play was a surprise to us, but Australia have so many fast and attacking players that our game plan hasn't changed because of it.

"We had prepared for this (the best offensive players) and removed all their intentions to get past our defensive line, they weren't there once and that's a huge compliment to our team because that's what they were aiming for."

Tony Gustavsson credited Kerr's leadership off the pitch.

The Matildas manager has admitted he doesn't want Ireland to hear the news of his injury until Thursday's game.

"She (Kerr) means a lot to us emotionally, spiritually and with that team spirit for sure and Steph (Catley) as vice-captain, the way these two lead this team is amazing," Gustavsson said.

"Sam is an integral part of Ireland's game plan and we didn't want to give that away in advance, but once we got to the stadium we didn't play any type of mental game, we were honest with the squad sheet but wanted to wait until the last second so we didn't give away too much in tournament football.

"I'm asking for some understanding with this, hope you're okay. It's obviously devastating for us and for the players."