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Australia coach Michael O’Connor was ecstatic with his side’s victory in the Plate final over South Africa at yesterday’s NZI Sevens in Wellington.

A late try to Clinton Sills helped them to a dramatic 26-22 win in one of the most entertaining matches of the weekend.

The result equals the Australian Sevens best result of the 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series achieved when the side picked up the Plate in Dubai. After three events, the Australians sit fifth on the series standings with 30 points.

“It was unbelieveable, we came 19-5 down to win, every kick was spot-on for them and every restart," O’Connor said.

“We really had to dig deep and the manner in which we won it was just so exciting in the last minute and everyone contributed.

“It was great to beat South Africa for a second time in a packed stadium, it was just a great atmosphere and great for these young kids.”

The Patrick McCutcheon-led Australians were relegated to the Plate semi-final after going down to New Zealand 24-12 in the Cup quarter-finals in their opening match of the day.

Australia bounced back to defeat Kenya 26-17 in the Plate semi-finals to set up a finals showdown with the formidable South African side.

The Plate final was a hard fought encounter with Sills, Australia’s leading try-scorer, picking a difficult ball off his knees in the dying seconds to race away to seal the result.

The superb match-winning try was also Sills' 15th try of the season which places him equal-fourth on the World Series standings.

Captain McCutcheon praised Sills for his performance.

“That kid’s amazing, he’s got some serious gas and if we can put him in space nice and early he’s going to be hard to compete with in a foot race.”

Boks continue to falter

The defeat was a bitter blow for South Africa who have struggled to match the highs of last season. Earlier in the day they had lost for the third consecutive tournament to Fiji in the Cup last eight, relegating them once again to the Plate.

Paul Treu, the SA Sevens coach, bemoaned his teams’ lack of finishing on the second day.

“We dominated territory against New Zealand on Friday night, and today against Fiji and Australia, but we somehow failed to turn those gains into points.

“We also missed some tackles in the Plate final, which allowed Australia to slip back into the game after we had such a good start. However, the positive thing is that we managed to give newcomers like Hoffman Maritz and Steven Hunt valuable game time.

“We will continue to work hard and now have another chance in Las Vegas next week to improve on our recent performances,” added Treu.