The hosts had cruised through the men’s group stage yesterday with three straight wins, which set up a clash with Samoa at Dolphins Stadium. 

Australia had conceded just four points in their opening matches of the under-23 nines tournament but were given a sterner test by the Samoan team.

In front of a home crowd in Brisbane, the Australian team emerged 18-10 winners in the semi-final clash.

It saw them advance to a gold medal match against Tonga, who secured a 22-6 win over Pacific Island rivals Fiji.

A closely fought final saw Australian clinch a narrow 14-8 victory over Tonga.

Third place was claimed by Samoa after they triumphed 22-6 against Fiji, whose participation had been in doubt before the tournament over visa issues.

Australia were also crowned winners of the women’s event, after a series of impressive displays.

They followed up their unbeaten group stage by beating the Cook Islands 14-8 in the first semi-final.

Samoa thrashed Tonga 20-0 in the second semi-final to progress to the gold medal match.

They fell short against Australia, the hosts again winning by a 14-8 scoreline.

Third place was claimed by the Cook Islands.

They beat Tonga 20-0.