Sibusiso Sithole (pictured) grabbed a last-minute try as the Springboks, who had beaten the same opponents comfortably in the pool stages, came out on top in a thrilling final.

The win was one of the most remarkable turnaround performances by any team in a HSBC Sevens World Series Cup final.

Injury-hit South Africa, who had only two fit reserves available for the final, came back from being 7-28 down to snatch victory at the very end of an epic final in Edinburgh, the spiritual home of sevens rugby.

Their win was also the team's first successive Cup title victories since 2008, when they won the Dubai and George tournaments within the space of two weeks.

Last week Kyle Brown's team captured the London Sevens crown at Twickenham.

Also, the team finished second overall on the HSBC Sevens World series standings with 140 points, 16 behind champions New Zealand.

Paul Treu, the South African sevens coach, described the fight-back as unbelievable.

"Australia made a good start and we had to give it everything we got. We were severely disrupted by the injuries and apart from the injured players," he said,

"What can you say after a performance like that?

"They refused to give in and South Africa can be very proud of these young men."


The Kiwis, meanwhile, picked up their ninth title in a competition that has only been running for 13 years, with their success having been sealed at Twickenham in the last round.

England had a chance of catching the leaders but, after failing to pick up a point on home soil, they could only manage six in the final round of the season.

A 26-12 Cup quarter-final loss to New Zealand knocked them out of the competition and then they were then beaten 34-19 in the Plate semi-final by Fiji, who went on to record a 26-14 result against Samoa in the final.

"It has been a very tough year, a good year, winning four out of the eight tournaments," said All Blacks coach Gordon Tietjens.

"It would have been great to win it [the Edinburgh title] today but it wasn't to be.

"I think what is really pleasing is that we won the World Series in a year where sevens is growing, it is a lot stronger now."

The New Zealanders dominated the series, finishing on 166 points, 26 clear of second-placed South Africa.

"Consistently winning four tournaments was great and the semi-finals was the worst we did so that is a great result and I just hope it continues," Tietjens said.