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All Black double is 'special' for Tietjens

Rieko Ioane scored after the final siren to deliver New Zealand a thrilling 27-24 win over Australia in the Final of the Sydney leg of the Sevens World Series.All Black double is 'special' for Tietjens

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The Australians led 24-22 into the final seconds, but were unable to hold on to possession, giving the Kiwis the chance to snatch victory with player of the tournament Ioane finishing with his third try of the Final.

New Zealand similarly snatched a last minute win at last weekend's Wellington Sevens, downing South Africa 24-21 with a try after the final hooter.

The Kiwis are now in a three-way share of the top spot in the World Series standings along with Fiji and South Africa on 69 points with Australia in fourth place on 54.

"It was special to win two weeks back-to-back," Tietjens said, adding that his players showed "a lot of character".

Kiwi captain Tim Mikkelson said they always knew they had the ability to come back, despite trailing.

"We did in Wellington [coming back in the Final against South Africa] and in the last pool match [against Australia on Saturday]," he said.

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"I just want to thank the Aussies for an awesome two games over the weekend, you guys played awesome and this is an awesome tournament that will just grow from year to year," Mikkelson said.

"We said it would take 20 minutes to win and we just kept on going and we got the victory in the end."

All Black double is 'special' for Tietjens

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