South Africa sent their home fans wild as they came from behind to claim back-to-back titles in a thrilling final to sign off the Cape Town leg of the HSBC SVNS in dramatic style.
Early in the second half, Argentina looked to have the gold-medal match sewn up to complete a remarkable turnaround after finishing eighth in Dubai.
But the Blitzboks hit back with two tries in the last four minutes as the excited crowd ramped up the volume.
Speaking immediately after the final whistle, captain Impi Visser said: “It was a tough final. We made it a little bit difficult for ourselves. The boys showed massive character [this weekend]. We had some tough games but the boys pulled through.”
Earlier, Fiji claimed third with a win over France, and Dubai champions New Zealand claimed fifth.
Final: Blitzboks send Cape Town wild with dramatic late win
Christie Grobbelaar scored with less than a minute remaining as South Africa sent their home crowd into raptures, coming from behind in a thrilling final to beat Argentina 21-19 and become the first-ever side to claim back-to-back titles in Cape Town.
Argentina looked away and clear after Marcos Moneta had scored his second try of the gold-medal match — a highlight-reel score that looked like it had ended the game as a competition, after Luciano Gonzalez had powered past two defenders to open the scoring.
But they reckoned without the sheer will and refusal to lie down of the hosts. Donavan Dan had kept them in the game, and they gave themselves a chance when tournament debutant Sonwabo Sokoyi raced under the posts after 10 minutes.
South Africa kept probing and pounding, but it looked like Argentina would hold on, until the ball found its way to Grobbelaar out wide.
Player of the match Shilton van Wyk told RugbyPass TV immediately after the match: “To go back-to-back is something special for us as a team and we just want to say thank you to our supporters who came out to see us.
“We say to ourselves we have to take it game by game. Whatever comes, we take it, and luckily for us we got five out of five this weekend.”
Bronze final: Fiji magic too much for France
France’s men’s team could not repeat the heroics of their counterparts in the women’s competition, as they were held at arm’s length by a thoroughly impressive Fiji side, who closed out the game comfortably, winning 26-19.
Earlier, hosts South Africa held off a concerted French challenge in a thrilling semi-final to reach back-to-back finals in Cape Town. Shilton van Wyk scored twice, while Tristan Leyds and Ryan Oosthuizen weighed in with one apiece en route to a 22-17 victory.
After their surprise eighth-place in Dubai, Argentina continued their turnaround in form with a 29-21 win over Fiji in the second semi-final. Both Santiago Mare and Santiago Alvarez scored two to make the Pacific Islanders’ late double nothing more than consolation scores.
Play-off places: Dubai champions claim fifth
Dubai champions New Zealand were just too well drilled for a rapidly improving Great Britain side in the fifth-place play-off decider. A double for Sofai Notoa-Tipo, and tries for Sam Clarke, Bradley Tocker, and Riley Williams eased the All Blacks Sevens to a 27-12 victory.
Earlier New Zealand had met the side they beat in the Dubai showpiece, Australia in a fifth-place semi-final for the first time since 2019. It was a match that would have graced the showpiece, as New Zealand raced into a 21-7 halftime lead, before Australia levelled with two minutes to play. A converted Sofai Notoa-Tipo try gave the All Blacks’ Sevens a 28-21 lead — but they had to scramble to survive with six on the pitch in the closing moments, after Sam Clarke saw yellow.
That result meant Australia found themselves in the seventh-place final, against an arguably unfortunate Spanish set-up. The runners-up in the desert on the first weekend of the HSBC SVNS Series had the better of the decider, winning 24-12, thanks to a double from Aden Ekanayake.
Spain had won two of three matches on day one in Cape Town, and missed out on a semi-final place on points difference only. But they ended up in the seventh-place final after losing 29-10 to Great Britain — their first win of the weekend – in the fifth-place semi.