England won their first World Sevens Series title in almost a year with upset victories over New Zealand and Fiji in Brisbane.

Joe Lydon's squad proved themselves a growing force in the short-sided game by beating the winners of the first two tournaments on this year's circuit.

England had suffered quarter-final defeats to reigning series champions New Zealand in both Dubai and South Africa.

But in the Brisbane Sevens at Ballymore they reversed that trend in the last four with a surprise 19-14 victory - their first ever against the All Blacks.

And England went on to beat Fiji 28-14 in the final to take their first title since Hong Kong last March.

Harlequins wings Ben Gollings and Ugo Monye were the English stars in a thrilling match that had been tied 14-14 at the end of a breathless first half.

It's a great feeling because no one expected anything from us Ben Gollings England

Tony Roques scored England's opener while Fiji were down to six men but they then needed Monye's kick and chase to pull back tries from Mesake Davu and Sailosi Naiteqe.

After the break, Monye latched on to Henry Paul's kick to score his second before Simon Amor sent in Gollings, who then added his fourth conversion.

Gollings said of the win: "It's a great feeling because no one expected anything from us.

"In the last couple of tournaments we didn't perform to our best so to beat those teams today has been incredible."

Delighted manager Lydon added: "Our players showed a nice balance of experience and power.

"Simon Amor was a superb captain while Nathan McAvoy, Will Skinner and Ugo Monye were outstanding.

"We didn't perform well in the early rounds [but] beating Fiji in our final pool game proved to be crucial."

Hosts Australia went out to Fiji in the quarter-finals after having stand-off Brock James controversially dismissed for time-wasting.

But the Wallabies gained some consolation by winning the Plate with a 47-12 final thrashing of Samoa.

Tonga beat the USA 29-10 in the Bowl final, while the Cook Islands lifted the Shield after a 29-14 defeat of Papua New Guinea.

Selected Sunday results

Cup
Quarter-finals
New Zealand 19-10 South Africa
England 27-5 Samoa
Australia 7-12 Fiji
Argentina 14-17 France
Semi-finals
New Zealand 14-19 England
Fiji 26-19 France
Final
England 28-14 Fiji

Plate
Semi-finals
South Africa 10-21 Samoa
Australia 22-5 Argentina
Final
Samoa 12-47 Australia

Bowl
Semi-finals
USA 17-12 Niue
Tonga 29-24 Canada (aet)
Final
USA 10-29 Tonga