South Africa dramatically retained their overall World Sevens Series title by beating England in the final of the last of 10 tournaments on Sunday.

The Blitzboks’ 24-14 victory in Paris ensured they overhauled Fiji in the overall standings by 182 to 180 points.

It was only their second tournament victory out of 10 in the 2017/18 season compared to Fiji’s five – including the last four in a row – but South Africa’s consistency in reaching at least the semi-finals of every event proved decisive.

England’s 19-17 victory over Fiji in the quarter-finals — thanks to a stunning winning try at the end of a 26-pass move — was crucial despite the Pacific Islanders bouncing back to claim fifth place with a 28-7 win over the United States.

In the final Werner Kok opened the scoring for the Boks before the English went ahead through scores from Oliver Lindsay-Hague and Dan Norton.

A Ryan Oosthuizen try levelled matters at 14-14 before Dewald Human got South Africa’s third and a Justin Geduld penalty secured the win. DM