South Africa Vipers walked away with the International Sevens crown in Mar del Plata on Thursday to deny Argentina a double success, the home side having retained their South American Sevens title the day before.

For Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu, the 29-7 victory over Argentina by a youthful SA Vipers team should bode well for the future, both longer term and with the IRB Sevens World Series resuming in Wellington next month.

The two sides had been locked at 7-7 after tries by MJ Mentz and Francisco Cuneo, but the Vipers scored two further tries in each half to cruise to victory in an International Sevens which also saw a USA VII join the top four in the South American Championship.

This meant that Argentina and Brazil joined the USA in one pool with Uruguay and Chile tackling the Vipers. The South Africans booked their place in the final, conceding only one try, but the USA fell 24-10 to Brazil and 19-5 to the Pumas.

The Vipers overwhelmed Brazil 34-0 in their semi final, but Argentina - with Joaquin Todeschini and brothers Santiago and Pablo Gomez Cora in their ranks - had to survive a late wave of Uruguayan pressure to emerge the 17-14 victors.

Uruguay bounced back from that disappointment by beating Brazil 24-12 in the Plate final with the USA VII finishing on a winning note with victory over Chile by the same scoreline in the play-off for fifth place.

Argentina retain regional crown

Argentina lived up to their billing as favourites by conceding only one try en route - against Brazil - to defending their South American title in Mar del Plata with a 21-0 defeat of Uruguay in the final.

The Pumas had eased past Peru (54-0) and Paraguay (45-0), but found their final Pool A opponents Brazil a tougher prospect, losing on 12-7 with Santiago Gomez Cora - the IRB Sevens World Series all-time leading try scorer - touching down.

In the other pool, Uruguay finished top with victories over Colombia (12-5), Venezuela (33-12) and Chile (17-12). Argentina then overwhelmed Chile 33-0 in the first Cup semi final before Los Teros beat Brazil 22-0.

While Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil moved on to the International Sevens competition, the remaining four teams played off for the fifth to eighth places in the South American element, Colombia beating Paraguay 19-12 for fifth and Peru edging Venezuela 24-12 for seventh.

Brazil's women reign supreme

Meanwhile in the women's event, Brazil showed they remain the Sevens superpowers in South America with a sixth successive title to preserve their incredible record of being unbeaten in the sport in regional competition.

However this year it was not regular foes Argentina who they met in the final, but Colombia after they edged Uruguay 7-5 in their semi final. The outcome was the same though with Brazil running out 17-0 winners.

Brazil, who narrowly lost the Bowl final at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 in Dubai, breezed through the pool stages without conceding a point, beating Peru 45-0, Chile 29-0 and Uruguay by the same margin.

Argentina did manage to cross the Brazilian try-line in the semi final, but featuring several of the players who had graced the RWC Sevens stage in the first ever women's competition the defending champions ran out 22-7 winners.

Colombia had also emerged unbeaten in the pool stages in Mar del Plata - the venue for RWC Sevens 2001 - after overcoming Venezuela 12-5, Argentina 21-7 and Paraguay 31-0.

Hosts Argentina had to settle for fourth place overall, losing the Plate final 14-12 to Uruguay, while Chile edged Venezuela 10-5 for fifth and Paraguay beating Peru 15-5 to finish seventh of the eight teams.