The two rivals had met in the pick of yesterday’s matches, where Wellington Sevens winners New Zealand had battled back from a 17-5 deficit to earn a 17-17 draw with a last gasp try.

However, World Rugby confirmed afterwards they were investigating an apparent breach of tournament rules in the build up to Ardie Savea’s match levelling try, with New Zealand having been alleged to have had eight players on the field.

“In accordance with Law 3.2 the result of the match will stand, but World Rugby is currently reviewing the matter to determine if any disciplinary action is warranted,” a World Rugby statement read.

Having topped their group following the result, New Zealand had been drawn against the United States in the quarter-finals and secured a comfortable 24-7 win.

Their semi-final against Fiji was more fraught as they battled to a 14-12 victory, with the result seeing them set up a rematch against Australia for the title.

It followed the Australian team earning a sudden death 17-12 win over England in the quarter-finals, before edging South Africa 12-7 in the last four.

The hosts were aiming to give Andy Friend a first victory of the Series, having become the head coach in January, with 18-year-old Henry Hutchinson scoring to give his team an early lead.

However, New Zealand’s own teenager Rieko Ioane quickly levelled the scores, before the Kiwis' hopes took a blow when 2015 Rugby World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams was sin-binned for a high tackle.

The 30-year-old returned to the field with a high scoring affair still delicately poised, with Australia eventually opening up a two point advantage heading into the final minutes of the match.

Ioane would disappoint the home fans at the Allianz Stadium, though, after going over the try line with seconds remaining to secure a 27-24 win.

"I just want to thank Aussie, for an awesome two games over the weekend, you guys played awesome and this is an awesome tournament that will just grow from year to year,” said Tim Mikkelson, New Zealand captain.

"To the fans, all the New Zealanders, thanks for coming out and supporting us.

“And to our boys, another awesome effort, we said it would take 20 minutes to win and we just kept on going and we got the victory in the end."

New Zealand have now moved onto a total of 69 points for the overall series, the same number as Fiji and South Africa, but await their potential punishment.

Fiji earned a dominant 26-12 win over South Africa in the third place play-off in Sydney.