England dug deep to beat South Africa in the final ©HSBC Sport/Twitter

A superb England held off of a fightback by the South African hosts to win the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series leg in thrilling fashion at the Cape Town Stadium today.

South Africa, winners of the season-opener in Dubai, made a good start towards continuing their good form after Chris Dry scored the opening try of the final.

But England swiftly hit back as Richard de Carpentier broke through the South African defensive line to score before speedster Dan Norton crossed to make it 12-5 at the break.

Rosko Specman drew the hosts level soon after only for a crucial score by Ruaridh McConnochie.

A successful conversion by Tom Mitchell put England 19-12 ahead.

South Africa enjoyed partisan home support but were still unable to get the better of England ©HSBC Sport/Twitter
South Africa enjoyed partisan home support but were still unable to get the better of England ©HSBC Sport/Twitter

With Dan Norton sent to the sinbin, Werner Kok scored in the final moments for South Africa to leave Justin Geduld with an opportunity to make it 19-19.

But he dragged his kick wide and England duly held on for a 19-17 triumph. 

England had won 33-14 over Scotland in their semi-final while South Africa won 14-7 over New Zealand in the other.

New Zealand beat Scotland 24-19 in the bronze medal match.

Olympic champions Fiji sealed fifth place with a 33-21 win over Kenya.