An extra time Henry Hutchison try has put Australia into its first Cup semi-final of the 2015-16 World Series.
The Aussies beat England 17-12 in the end but the game had to go into extra time before the result was decided.
With a golden try rule in place for Sevens, it was all or nothing for the Aussies and it looked like it would be nothing as England started extra time deep in Aussie territory.
A Lewis Holland kick put the Aussies into attack dep in the first period of extra time before Hutchison managed to finish off the final play and nab the win.
It was his second try of the match, after forcing proceedings into extra-time in the first place.
The victory is the Aussies’ first Cup quarter-final win this season and it’s extra sweet in their home tournament, Hutchison said.
“It’s probably the most nerve wracking game out of all of them because if you lose that you’re down into the Plate and the highest you can place is fifth,” he said.
“In your home tournament you don’t want to be placing fifth. We’ve made it through to the top four and take it from there.”
Australia has shown plenty of character through the World Series and Hutchison said this effort would help continue to build that.
“We’re building a family,” he said.
“There’s some really old guys in the group but there’s also a lot of young fellas .
“So it’s a really important time for us to gel and unite as a team.
“It’s really gives us confidence moving through the tournament.”
Australia conceded the first try of the match, with England’s James Rodwell opening the scores, before Lewis Holland snatched a reply for Australia.
It was much the same in the second half with England’s Tom Mitchell slipping through Australia’s defence before Hutchison equalled the scores.
The Aussies will face South Africa in the Cup Semi-final at 4:20pm AEDT.
New Zealand will take on Fiji in the other Cup semi-final, after they won their quarter-finals over USA and Kenya, respectively.
