Australia beat South Africa 19-14 in a thrilling final at Twickenham to win the London Sevens and claim a first Cup title on the IRB Sevens World Series since Brisbane in 2002.
With their victory the Australians climb to joint-third in the World Series standings with one tournament to play, the Edinburgh Sevens at Murrayfield next weekend.
NEW ZEALAND 133
AUSTRALIA 1102
FIJI 102
ENGLAND 80
SOUTH AFRICA 74
ARGENTINA54
KENYA 52
UNITED STATES 32
WALES 30
CANADA 15
In the other competitions Canada beat Portugal at the death in a fine Bowl final and Kenya also needed all 14 minutes to beat France and claim the Shield.
England's home title defence came to an end at the Cup quarter final stages when they were beaten by South Africa.
Although they lost speedster Clinton Sills to injury early on in the Cup final, Australia forged ahead and Brackin Karauria-Henry's converted try gave them a 7-0 lead that they held until Fabian Juries' opportunist chip-and-chase drew the Boks level on the stroke of half time.
The brilliant James Stannard found a gap in the South African defence to put his Australian side back into the lead but again it was Juries who took the ball at full pace and cut back for a 14-12 lead.
New Zealand did recover from that loss to beat Fiji in the Plate final but to take a ninth World Series crown they will need to win in Edinburgh and hope Samoa do not make the final.
Australia were the first side through to the London Cup final, beating Argentina 26-14 to reach their first IRB Sevens Cup final since February 2002.
Clinton Sills and Watisoni Votu of Fiji both crossed for hat tricks in a pulsating quarter final which the Wallabies won in the last minute 29-28 and in the semi final against Argentina Sills added two more tries to take his tally to nine for the tournament, but looked to be suffering from a leg injury in the latter stages.
The Springbok Seven put in a superb display to beat the impressive Samoans 24-12, Ryno Benjamin, Chris Dry, Cecil Afrika and the returning Fabian Juries all crossing for tries.
New Zealand leave it late to clinch Plate (12 Series points)
New Zealand won a famous victory against Fiji in the Plate final, Sherwin Stowers sprinting clear well after the final hooter had sounded to clinch a 26-24 win when Isake Katonibau's try looked to have given Fiji the win with only 30 seconds remaining.
In clawing back the victory New Zealand also kept alive their hopes of claiming a 9th IRB Sevens World Series title. They will win the 2009/2010 season should they take the Edinburgh Cup title and Samoa fail to reach the Cup final in Murrayfield, although Samoa do now lie seven points clear.
Earlier, Fiji won through to the final by beating Wales 22-10 and England suffered double heartbreak in losing to New Zealand 22-19 in the second semi, Kurt Baker's length of the field try sealing victory in the dying seconds when captain Ben Gollings looked to have inspired a home win.
Canada win Bowl (4 Series points)
Canada followed a dramatic 22-17 semi final victory over rivals USA to beat Portugal 19-17 and claim the London Bowl title.
Sean Duke's supreme pace was a welcome addition to the Canada squad, which was again impeccably led by captain Phil Mack. Portugal hit back to lead 17-12 late on, but Justin Mensah-Coker's try sealed the win.
The semi final had finished in even more dramatic circumstances, Mack making an incredible cover tackle at 17-all in extra time before Duke sprinted the length of the field to score the golden try.
Kenya win Shield
Captain Humphrey Kayange's two tries inspired Kenya to come from behind against France and Dennis Mwanja's score at the death sealed a dramatic 24-21 win in the Shield final for Kenya against France. Earlier the Kenyans came from behind to beat Russia 21-17.
Results Sunday from the London Sevens rugby at Twickenham:
Quarterfinals
Cup
Samoa 19, New Zealand 10
South Africa 17, England 12
Australia 29, Fiji 28
Argentina 27, Wales 14
Bowl
United States 19, Kenya 10
Canada 21, Russia 12
Scotland 21, France 12
Portugal 41, Italy 0
Semifinals
Cup
Australia 26, Argentina 14
South Africa 24, Samoa 12
Plate
New Zealand 22, England 19
Fiji 22, Wales 10
Bowl
Canada 22, United States 17
Portugal 24, Scotland 19
Shield
Kenya 21, Russia 17
France 29, Italy 7
Finals
Cup
Australia 19, South Africa 14
Plate
New Zealand 26, Fiji 24
Bowl
Canada 19, Portugal 17
Shield
Kenya 24, France 21
