The Qantas Australian Men's Sevens team has fallen agonisingly short of winning the Las Vegas Sevens after losing to world series leaders Fiji.
Australia saw off South Africa (14-12) in a bruising Cup Semi-Final before Fiji staged a second-half fightback to take all 22 Sevens World Series points on offer (21-15) in another memorable Final.
After finishing runners-up in Sydney last month, Australia's Cup Final appearance in the USA was the first back-to-back tournament deciders it has reached since May 2010.
Qantas Australian Men's Sevens Head Coach Andy Friend said: "We'll take a lot out of this tournament and it's up to us to carry this momentum that we first gained in Sydney, and now Las Vegas, through to Canada and the rest of the series.
"Today's games were two physical encounters. In my opinion, in the Semi-Final, I didn't think we played our best football but we hung in there and managed to get the result. In the Cup Final, we wanted to move Fiji around a bit and managed to do that at various stages. However, credit to Fiji who took their chances in the second half."
Assessing the Australian Men's Sevens program, Friend added: "We're building depth in the squad and building a depth as well as our own game style. We know we have a lot of work to do though everything is headed in the right direction.
"Losing two Cup Finals in a row is disappointing but we are learning with every single game and must continue the hard work."
