South Africa beat Fiji 24-14 to win the Emirates Airline London Sevens, as New Zealand clinch a ninth Sevens World Series title by beating Argentina in the Cup quarter finals on a weekend which saw the attendance exceed 100,000 at Twickenham.
Paul Treu's side came from 14-0 down to record their second Cup victory this season and their first London Sevens since 2005. The victory means the race for second place in the Series behind New Zealand will be a four-way battle at next weekend's Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens.
South Africa's 24 points for the win means they are now third with 116 points behind England (121) and ahead of Samoa (112) and Fiji (110).
Outgoing World Series champions Samoa defeated 2010 London Sevens champions Australia in the Plate final to collect 12 points whilst Scotland claimed four after a dramatic 21-19 victory against Kenya in the Bowl final. England ended a disappointing weekend at Twickenham with some silverware, beating Portugal 22-7 in the Shield final.
LATEST RESULTS >>
DAY TWO REACTION >>
What did you make of the 2011 Emirates Airline London Sevens? >>
South Africa avenged a loss to Fiji in the pool stages on day one with a hard fought victory in the Cup final, recovering from a 14-0 deficit early on to score four tries - two of them by Bernardo Botha - and execute coach Paul Treu's game plan with perfection.
NEW! Seven of the best tries from London
Fiji had earlier impressively defeated HSBC Sevens World Series winners New Zealand 42-19 in the first Cup semi final, with six different players scoring in the victory. South Africa had a tighter battle against Rugby World Cup Sevens champions Wales, edging their semi final 21-19.
Outgoing World Series champions Samoa defeated last year's London Sevens Cup winners 22-12 in the Plate final to collect 12 Series points, Tom Iosefo taking his tournament try tally to 10 with two tries against Michael O'Connor's side.
Iosefo had earlier scored three of Samoa's six tries in their 38-0 victory against Argentina in the semi final as the Pacific Islanders became the first side through to the Plate final having earlier lost to Pacific rivals Fiji in the Cup quarter finals.
Brian Sefanaia and Greg Jeloudev (two) helped Australia to a 19-0 victory against France in their semi final and they receive eight Series points to add to their tally.
Records broken on day one
Andrew Turnbull snatched victory for Scotland in the Bowl final to add four more World Series points to their season's tally. Having trailed 19-14 after the buzzer had sounded, Turnbull showed great composure to secure a 21-19 victory and Scotland's third Bowl of the season.
Graham Shiels' side reached the Bowl final after a 19-17 victory against Spain with Peter Horne crossing for two of their three tries. Humphrey Kayange's late try had sealed a 19-15 victory over Russia for Kenya.
Earlier, hosts England's poor form in London continued as they suffered a 19-17 defeat to Kenya in their final Bowl quarter final despite leading 17-0 at half time. Tries by Oscar Ouma, Collins Injera and Lavin Asego inflicting more misery on Ben Ryan's side.
Spain became the first team through to the semi finals in the opening match of day two after defeating Al Caravelli's USA 14-0 thanks to tries from Pablo Feijoo and Igancio Martin. Lee Jones, who was part of Scotland's Commonwealth Games squad that finished sixth in Delhi, scored a hat-trick in their 26-0 victory against Portugal.
Evgeny Brysryakov, Ivan Kotov and Nikolay Zaporzhin had earlier all crossed for Pavel Baranovsky's Russia in a 15-12 victory against Canada in the third quarter final, setting up the meeting with Kenya.
Silver lining for hosts in Shield
England proved too strong for Portugal in the Shield final to end a disappointing weekend at Twickenham with some silverware.
Mat Turner, Dan Norton (two) and John Brake's tries secured a 22-7 victory to the delight of the home crowd.
The hosts beat Canada 22-14 in the semi finals as tries from Nick Royle, James Rodwell, Norton and Brake helped Ben Ryan's side reach the final despite Ciaran Hearn scoring twice for Canada.
Portugal reached the final after a 21-5 defeat of USA. David Mateus, Diogo Mateus and Aderito Esteves scoring first half tries for Tomaz Morais' side.
Earlier, Ben Gollings scored his 2,624th point in the history of the World Series, doubling Waisale Serevi's next best tally of 1,310, with his try against Kenya in the Bowl quarter final.
