Aussies embracing 'the stress' as they chase rugby 7s world title

Australia was unbeaten during its successful campaign at the Valladolid World Championship leg. (Reuters: Juan Barbosa)

James Turner is not joking when he says the Australian men's rugby sevens team relishes stressful moments.

"We thrive in it," Turner explained matter-of-factly when he spoke to ABC Sport over the phone from France.

Australia puts itself in pole position to win the women's rugby sevens World Championship, while the men's team also enjoys the spoils of victory in Spain.

Last weekend's final at the second leg of the World Championship in Spain proved his point.

Australia found itself trailing South Africa 14-0 after just three minutes in the tournament decider in Valladolid.

The Blitzboks, as South Africa is known, were already riding a wave of confidence after winning the opening World Championship round in Hong Kong.

They had also dominated the preceding regular season, winning four of the six tournaments.

As they established their commanding lead over Australia in the Valladolid final, the Blitzboks were seemingly headed towards another victory.

But with their backs to the wall, the Australians refused to panic.

"We weren't really that worried when we were 14-0 down," Turner said.

James Turner was among Australia's best in Valladolid. (Getty Images: David Sarmiento)

It was Turner who kick-started Australia's comeback, beating three defenders to score his side's opening try late in the first half.

Ethan McFarland, Ben Dowling and captain Henry Hutchison also crossed the stripe, and with the aid of some conversions, Australia led 26-14 with three minutes left in the final.

But three minutes is an eternity in rugby sevens, and there were still some nervous moments ahead for Turner and his teammates.

First, Turner was sent off after he made contact with the head of Blitzboks opponent Jayden Nell while trying to complete a tackle.

The contact was unintentional, but referee Nick Hogan followed the letter of the law and showed Turner a red card.

More drama followed when Gino Cupido scored out wide for the Blitzboks with just 30 seconds on the clock, before they appeared to be on the cusp of levelling scores and sending the final into extra time.

Shilton van Wyk had touched down under the posts after the full-time siren had sounded, setting up a simple conversion attempt.

But after Hogan consulted the television match official, the try was disallowed because of a forward pass, sending the Australian players into raptures as they celebrated their first victory on the World Rugby circuit in four years.

"Twenty-six unanswered p