[Photo: WORLD RUGBY 7S/ FACEBOOK]
Australia produced a remarkable comeback to beat South Africa 26-19 and end a title drought of more than 1,300 days at the HSBC SVNS event in Valladolid.
The Australians trailed 14-0 within the opening three minutes as South Africa struck twice through Shilton van Wyk and Sebastiaan Jobb.
However, James Turner and Ethan McFarland, before halftime, levelled the scores, before Ben Dowling and Henry Hutchison crossed in the second half to put Australia in control.
Australia’s task became even tougher when Turner was shown a red card for a high tackle with less than two minutes remaining.
South Africa capitalised immediately through Gino Cupido and appeared to have scored a dramatic late equaliser, only for the try to be ruled out for a forward pass.
The victory secures Australia’s first HSBC SVNS tournament title in more than three years and hands South Africa their first major setback after a dominant season that included titles in Perth, Vancouver and New York.
Despite the defeat, the Blitzboks remain on top of the World Championship standings heading into next weekend’s season finale in Bordeaux.
The Aussies overcame the Fiji Airways Men’s Nationals 7s side 21-14 in the cup semi final.
Fiji went on to lose 28-17 to Argentina in the Men’s 3rd-place playoff.
Meanwhile, the Australian women defeated the USA 27-14 to claim the Women’s title.
The Fiji Airways Fijian 7s side fell short in the cup quarter finals, but came back and finished 7th after beating Spain 14-5 in the 7th place playoff.
