England picked up their first title on the Sevens World Series this season after beating competition leaders South Africa 21-14 in the final of the Tokyo tournament on Sunday . Phil Burgess , Charlie Hayter and Tom Mitchell scored the tries in the final for the English , who bounced back from a thumping group stage defeat to Fiji on Saturday to win a first title since the Wellington Sevens in Feb. 2013 . ' I am unbelievably proud of this team . It 's a huge effort and we are so grateful to deliver this title , ' skipper Mitchell said after victory at a wet Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground . England 's James Rodwell ( left ) celebrates with his team-mates following their final victory in Tokyo . England defeated championship leaders South Africa 21-14 in the decider of the Sevens Word Series event . The England victory is their first since February 2013 and puts them fourth in the series so far . The 22 points moved them onto 100 and ahead of Australia into the fourth and final Olympic qualifying position available from the series . Further spots are available for next year 's Rio de Janeiro Games via regional qualifiers . South Africa still lead the way after collecting 19 for the runners-up spot to move onto 129 , four clear of Fiji with only two rounds left in the series in Glasgow and London next month . The Fijians , winners of the last two tournaments in Las Vegas and Hong Kong , picked up 17 points in Tokyo after edging Canada 21-19 to finish third . Phil Burgess streaks away to score England 's first of three tries in their triumph in Japan . South Africa 's Cecil Afrika ( centre ) kicks on the run as rain stream down during the Tokyo Sevens final . The Fijian 's hat-trick bid was ended by the South Africans in a nervy , error-strewn semi-final that the Blitzbokke took 7-5 . New Zealand , winners of 12 of the 15 Sevens World Series titles and reigning World Cup sevens champions , endured a disappointing week in the Japanese capital , suffering a first ever loss to Canada in the quarter-finals . The 19-15 defeat sent them into the second tier Plate tournament , which they won after beating France in the last four and then Scotland in the final after Dylan Collier 's try in the last play of the game . The 13 points keeping them third on 120 . Tom Mitchell needs all of his strength to get to the line as South Africa 's Werner Kok tries to pull him up . Mitchell holds off Kok as he just makes the line for England 's third try in the important seven-point win . Trans-Tasman rivals Australia dropped to fifth after a weekend to forget in Tokyo . After losing to Portugal and Scotland in group play on Saturday , they then suffered a heartbreaking defeat to the United States in the lung-busting final of the third tier Bowl event . Perry Baker scoring the match ending try in extra time as the ever-improving Americans prevailed 17-12 . Portugal won the Shield after edging Argentina 12-7 but last-placed Japan closed the gap on the Iberians to eight points in the battle to avoid relegation after picking up 10 for making a first Cup quarter-final .
England beat South Africa February 2013 in the final at the Prince Chichibu ground . England had n't won a tournament since Wellington in 21-14 . Phil Burgess , Charlie Hayter and Tom Mitchell scored England 's tries . Win puts England fourth in series into the final Olympic qualifying spot .