England have won the opening leg of the 2010/11 IRB World Sevens Series after beating Samoa 29-21 in a thrilling comeback victory in Dubai.
Ben Ryan's side trailed 14-12 at half-time and 21-12 with three minutes remaining, but scored three tries to seal victory in front of many ex-pats.
Earlier, Oliver Lindsay-Hague's brace had kept them in the game in response to Samoan tries from powerhouse forward trio Simaika Mikaele, Ofisa Treviranus and Alafoti Fa'osiliva.
England now lead the early Series standings with 24 points, ahead of Samoa (20) and Cup semi-finalists New Zealand and Fiji (16).
South Africa beat Australia 19-12 to claim the Plate, the star of the show Cecil Afrika, who scored all three Springbok tries reversing the 19-14 defeat suffered to Michael O'Connor's side on day one.
Argentina defeated Zimbabwe 21-0 to take home the Bowl after Kenya had beaten France 26-0 to win the Shield.
Final: England 29-21 Samoa
Semi-finals:
Samoa 24-21 Fiji
England 19-14 New Zealand
Quarter-finals:
Samoa 38-5 USA
Fiji 21-19 South Africa
Australia 21-24 England
New Zealand 35-7 Wales
Plate
Cecil Afrika stole the show in the Plate final as his hat-trick helped South Africa beat Australia 19-12 in the penulimate match of day two, with the crowd viewing some pulsating rugby. They had earlier beaten Wales 26-12 and USA 24-10 respectively in the two semis.
In the first semi final, Afrika ran in two first half tries and Kyle Brown immediately crossed in the second to give South Africa a 19-0 lead. Tries from Miles Craigwell and Roland Suniula did give USA a glimmer of hope but Mark Richards cemented South Africa's spot in the final.
John Grant scored his eighth and ninth tries of the tournament as Michael O'Connor's Australia defeated Wales 26-12 to set up a repeat of the Pool C match, despite Evans giving the Welsh the lead.
Plate final: South Africa 19-12 Australia
Plate semi-finals:
USA 10-24 South Africa
Australia 26-12 Wales
Bowl:
Argentina maintained their 100 per cent record on day two and claimed some silverware in Dubai after beating Zimbabwe 21-0 in the Bowl final. Francisco Merello got the Pumas off to a flying start with two tries in the first half before Walter Weiss ensured the victory.
The South American side earlier recorded a 31-7 victory over Russia thanks to two tries from Diego Palma and Martin Lasalle and Zimbabwe proved too strong for Scotland, winning 28-12 in the semi finals. In the quarter final Argentina convincingly beat Kenya 43-0, Palma again scoring twice.
James Fleming scored his sixth try of tournament in the final seconds to book Scotland's place in the semi finals, beating European opponents France 28-22, and Zimambwe set up their semi final with Graham Shiel's side, beating Arabian Gulf 24-14.
Portugal, disappointed not to have made the Cup quarter finals having ended the pool stages on the same points as England and Fiji, lost 10-7 to Russia in the other quarter final.
Bowl final:
Argentina 21-0 Zimbabwe
Bowl semi-finals:
Argentina 31-7 Russia
Scotland 17-28 Zimbabwe
Bowl quarter-finals:
Zimbabwe 24-14 Arabian Gulf
Scotland 28-22 France
Portugal 7-10 Russia
Kenya 0-43 Argentina
Shield final:
Kenya 26-0 France
