Australia has won the men’s rugby sevens series for the first time after holding onto third place in the finale in Los Angeles on Monday.
The Aussies entered the final tournament of the series behind South Africa but after defeating Samoa 21-7 in the bronze-medal match, Australia jumped ahead in the standings to end their world title drought.
By winning, the men have followed in the footsteps of the women’s team, who earlier this year won their own title and backed it up with gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The side went into the final game knowing they needed to win or it would give South Africa or Fiji opportunity to clinch the title.
After a slow start against the Samoan side, Corey Toole and Henry Paterson settled the nerves by scoring tries for a 14-7 half-time lead, before Dietrich Roache crossed the line in the second half to secure the win.
This comes after a program restructure that reduced the team to just six fully-contracted players to begin the season was introduced as part of Rugby Australia’s budget cuts.
“An absolute bunch of misfits who have worked so hard for each other,” commentator Rikki Swannell said.
“So connected, some plucked from club rugby throughout Australia and now champions on the world stage.”
The Aussies had previously bombed out in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics and finished fourth at this year’s Commonwealth Games.
“This medal is a reflection of the consistency the boys have shown,” coach John Manenti said on the World Rugby coverage.
“A lot of boys contributed and it’s been a pretty amazing run.”
Australia (126 points) defeated South Africa (124) and Fiji (122) in the final men’s standings.
