Australia wins London Sevens, Ed Stubbs sets up winning try

Australia beat South Africa 19-14 in a thrilling final to win the London Sevens at Twickenham and claim their first IRB Sevens Cup title since Brisbane in 2002.

Captain James Stannard raced the length of the field in the dying seconds to make a match-winning tackle which secured Australia a memorable victory in front of over 40,000 fans.

Stannard was the star for Michael O'Connor's side, scoring a try and kicking two conversions to go with a match-saving effort in the dying seconds.

Australia took an early lead thanks to a try to Brackin-Karauria Henry in the fifth-minute before South Africa drew level through a converted Fabian Juries try to go the break with scored locked at 7-all.

Stannard crashed over two minutes after halftime for his fifth try of the tournament to swing the match back in Australia's favour.

Juries scored again to help South Africa grab a 14-12 lead before Australia forward Henry Vanderglas scored from an Ed Stubbs break to put Australia ahead 19-14.

Cecil Afrika then looked certain to snatch South Africa a famous victory but Stannard cut him down with a spectacular match-winning tackle which cleaned up the corner post.

O'Connor said he was convinced South Africa were going to sneak home right on the siren.

"The game was seesawing, then right on full time when had a 19-14 lead, one of the South Africans made a break and took off down the field and I was sure he was going to score," O'Connor said.

"James Stannard made this unbelievable tackle, he chased him the length of the field, put an unbelievable tackle on him and sent him into touch.

"I thought James had no chance of getting him, I have no idea where he pulled that pace from. He's got to be the player of the tournament.

"The boys are absolutely thrilled, I am incredibly proud of them. Only three of the boys have played here at Twickenham before, and we lost Clinton Sills, (concussion) Bernard Foley (ankle) and Ed Jenkins (virus) before the final, but the guys just handled the pressure well and held their composure to pull off a great victory."

Stannard said he was was thrilled with his team's undefeated performance in London, which sees them move into equal third with Fiji on the overall standings.

He was also crowed as the highest-point scorer of the tournament with 67 points while teammate Sills announced his return to the circuit with nine tries.

"We have worked so hard as a group over the last year, everyone who has been a part of the side and it has paid off today," Stannard said.

"Australia hasn't won a Cup Final in over eight years and that's something that we've been using as motivation.

"We won the Plate in Dubai and the next step up was getting that Cup. We have come close a couple of times with Samoa edging us out.

"Now we have to get back into our recovery, get over to Scotland and really do Australia proud again."