New Zealand 31 ...... Australia 12
Jonah Lomu grabbed a try hat-trick as New Zealand were crowned World Cup Sevens champions with a 31-12 destruction of Australia in the final in Argentina today.
Lomu missed the last tournament in Hong Kong in 1997 because of his career-threatening kidney disorder. He turned the battle for the Melrose Cup in Mar del Plata into a one-man show of his talent.
New Zealand's fierce southern hemisphere rivals, who had ended Fiji's reign as world champions in the semi-final, could not stop the Kiwis adding to the Commonwealth Games crown they won in 1997.
It was New Zealand's first international success since their win in the 15-a-side World Cup in 1987. They ended the mammoth 81-game programme with a five-try rout.
PA