England clinched a stunning bronze medal at the Dubai Rugby Sevens with a last gasp 15-14 victory over old rivals Australia.
The 2018 World Cup runners-up stole victory with just 20 seconds left as Tom Mitchell set up Harry Glover to dot down and secure a place on the podium for Simon Amor’s men.
Australia took an early lead through a converted John Porch try, but England instantly responded as Will Muir cross the whitewash on his World Series debut to cut the deficit.
Australia furthered their advantage through Lachie Anderson to take a 14-5 lead and the medal looked to be slipping away until Mike Ellery scored to leave England trailing by four points.
England never gave up and 22-year-old Glover popped up at the crucial moment to secure third spot in Dubai to leave skipper Mitchell gushing over the determination of his teammates.
“It's a great way to start the series,” he said.
“It was an amazing effort from the boys, especially in the last match with the last play and we managed to pull through to beat the Aussies.”
England mapped their route to the last four with a stunning 22-5 victory over two-time reigning champions South Africa as Mitchell scored twice in the clash.
Amor’s side then found themselves pitted against New Zealand, but England were unable to come through the test as they fell 7-5 to the eventual winners.
Elsewhere, Scotland bowed out the competition with a fifth-place finish as they were edged out the quarter-finals to South Africa, while Wales managed a 13th place standing.
The sides will meet again next weekend in the second leg of the World Series in South Africa’s Cape Town. Sportsbeat 2018