A second-half try from JC Pretorius proved to be decisive as South Africa came from behind to defeat Australia 10-7 in the men’s final.

Skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi got the Blitzboks off to the perfect start when he scored after one minute.

Australia hit back when Corey Toole showed great pace down the left to level the scores at 5-5.

Dietrich Roache converted and Australia were 7-5 up at half-time.

Little separated the two teams as they battled it out before Pretorius secured a crucial turnover with three minutes to left before crossing 60 seconds later.

"Australia really took us the wire, it was a brilliant match," said Soyizwapi.

"Credit to my boys though, we battle so hard for each other and showed grit when we had to.

"It is such a great way to end 2021."

Argentina made it two men’s bronze medals in two weeks as Marcos Moneta and Luciano Gonzalez inspired them to a 38-21 victory over France.

Australia won the women’s event with a 15-5 triumph over Fiji in a pulsating final.

Faith Nathan opened the scoring for Australia with a try just before the interval.

She then turned provider, setting up Madison Ashby for a crucial second unconverted try to make it 10-0.

Reapi Ulunisau got Fiji back into it with a five-pointer before Australia suffered a further blow when Lefau-Fakaosilea saw yellow.

But Australia managed to score next with six players as Lily Dick went close before Ashby touched down for a second.

"We are stoked, we came to Dubai to win two tournaments and that is what we have done," said Australian skipper Demi Hayes.

"We knew that Fiji are a physical side, so we tried to play with width and move them around the pitch and we battled really hard."

France collected the bronze medal for a second successive win after overcoming Russia 28-5.