South Africa have beaten New Zealand 17-14 in an emotional final of the Port Elizabeth round of the rugby sevens world series to claim their first title on home soil.
The hosts came from 14-0 down late in the first half to secure victory in a stadium named after former president Nelson Mandela, who died late last week.
The All Blacks Sevens, the defending series champions, were seeking their fifth consecutive title in South Africa.
Despite their defeat, they remain top of the points table after three of the circuit’s nine rounds.
However, their lead has been cut to two points, with South Africa climbing above Fiji to second spot.
New Zealand struck first in the final with tries to Scott Curry and Sherwin Stowers.
But a double from Branco du Preez, the second while the All Blacks Sevens had Tim Mikkelson in the sin bin, brought the score back to 14-12 at half-time.
The home side grabbed the decisive touch-down through skipper Kyle Brown with just over three minutes to go.
Earlier, New Zealand beat Kenya 19-0 in the quarter-finals and Samoa 19-5 in the semi-finals.
Samoa made the last four with a 28-12 upset over Fiji, who had inflicted a 44-0 defeat on New Zealand a week earlier on the way to winning the Dubai tournament.
The series now moves to the United States and the Las Vegas round in late January.
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Queensland led by seven late in the game, but conceded two late tries to the Kiwi side who claimed a late victory.
