Brazil's team celebrate their victory today ©World Rugby

Hosts Brazil won their 12th consecutive women’s South American title in Rio de Janeiro – at a tournament which served as a test event for August’s Olympic Games.

The home side saw off Argentina 27-5 in the final as the Deodoro Olympic venue was inaugurated, and successfully so according to World Rugby.

After topping Pool A on day one yesterday, Brazil saw off Chile 41-0 in the quarter-finals and then raced pass Colombia 31-0 in the last four.

A hat-trick by Edna Santini then saw them home against an Argentina side who won 38-0 against Peru and 22-5 against Venezuela in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.

Brazil captain Paula Ishibashi said: "This is a proud moment for Brazil rugby.

"Winning a 12th South American title is a fantastic achievement, but doing it on home soil in the Olympic Games test event is very special.

"We can now look forward to continuing our preparations for the Olympic Games on the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.

"We are all excited about the Games and I am sure that rugby sevens will be popular with people in Rio.”

The test event in Rio has been declared a success
The test event in Rio has been declared a success ©World Rugby

While Brazil and Colombia have booked their place at Rio 2016, Argentina and Venezuela can still qualify for the Olympics by winning the 16-team repechage event in Dublin in June.

A new 15,000 seater temporary stand still needs to be constructed at the Rio venue.

World Rugby Head of Competitions and Performance Mark Egan said: "This event has delivered invaluable testing opportunities for the Rio 2016 Organising Committee and World Rugby.

"We can now collectively fine-tune ahead of Games, where we anticipate fantastic men's and women's rugby sevens events.”

Bronze went to Colombia after they beat Venezuela 14-5.

Sevens will be making its debut on the Olympic programme in Rio.