Australia stuns the No. 1 teams with comeback wins to sweep the Valladolid Sevens
Australia has swept the Valladolid Sevens finals after comeback wins over the No. 1-ranked teams in the rugby sevens world series
VALLADOLID, Spain -- Australia swept the Valladolid Sevens finals after comeback wins over the No. 1-ranked teams in the rugby sevens world series on Sunday.
The men won their first trophy since November 2022 in Hong Kong when they overcame South Africa 26-19 in a sweltering Estadio Jose Zorrilla. The Blitzboks had a last-gasp try ruled out by a forward pass.
The women comfortably handled the United States 27-14 in their final after finally stopping New Zealand in the semifinals. New Zealand had won the last five tournaments since February, beating Australia in the final every time.
Australia won without two of its best players with Maddison Levi and Tia Hinds missing through injury, and take a two-point lead over New Zealand into the world championship decider next weekend in Bordeaux, France.
The Australian teams celebrated their first title double since 2018 in Sydney.
The men were the bigger surprise. Even though they beat South Africa 24-14 in pool play on Saturday, the Australians were still underdogs in the final.
South Africa made an ominous 14-0 start through converted tries by Shilton van Wyk and Sebastiaan Jobb. But by halftime the score was level after Australia scored on both wings through James Turner and Ethan McFarland, who broke through two defenders each.
To start the second half, Australia captain Henry Hutchison made a try-saving tackle on Tristan Leyds, who was then sin-binned for a cynical foul.
In his two-minute absence, Australia romped ahead 26-14 after tries by Ben Dowling and Hutchison, the latter after a spectacular restart catch by a leaping Aden Ekanayake above his head.
But then Turner was red-carded for a high tackle with about 90 seconds left. South Africa rallied with a try by Gino Cupido, who then offloaded to van Wyk for what appeared to be the try forcing extra time. But the try was scrubbed after video replay showed Cupido's pass was forward.
South Africa is still favored to remain world champion next weekend as it has a four-point lead over Argentina.
The New Zealand women will also be favored in Bordeaux. They blew a 26-14 lead over Australia with three minutes to go in the semifinals.
Australia was pushed into New Zealand's half of the draw after losing to the U.S. 14-10 in pool play for the first time in eight matches.
But the final was less dramatic. Huge miss-out passes by Australia exposed the U.S. on the wings and Heidi Dennis scored two routine tries in their 22-7 halftime lead. Dennis was named the player of the final, though, thanks to two outstanding try-saving tackles from behind on Alex Sedrick and Sereana Vulaono.
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