By Andrew Baldock, PA Sport Rugby Union Correspondent

South Africa won the Commonwealth Games sevens bronze medal with a 19-12 victory over Samoa at City of Manchester Stadium.

The South Africans, world-ranked number two, bowed out of the main competition when they lost 17-7 to Fiji, but their determination to try and win a medal shone through.

After carving out a narrow half-time lead, Fabien Juries' solo try opened up a sizeable lead, and although Faapito Matagitau claimed a second Samoan touchdown, South Africa had done enough.

But Samoa could also feel satisfied with themselves, reaching the last four despite suffering a shock defeat in their opening match of the competition against minnows Kenya.

England's frustrating failure to progress beyond the main competition quarter-finals - Fiji ended their medal hopes on Saturday night - was taken out on Australia.

The plate final - for beaten semi-finalists - was expected to be a close encounter, but England thrilled a capacity 38,000 crowd by storming into a 22-7 interval lead through tries from Ben Gollings, Phil Greening, Tony Roques and Josh Lewsey.

But it was a frustrating case of after the Lord Mayor's Show as England found their best form too late.

Although Australia played their part in an entertaining encounter, England were comprehensive winners, adding further tries by Nick Duncombe and Henry Paul to give them a resounding 36-12 success.

Scotland won the bowl competition - for teams eliminated at the group stage - by defeating Tonga 40-26, with Marcus di Rollo scoring his sixth try of the tournament and Sean Lamont collecting a double.

"This has given us a bit more credibility," said Scotland skipper Mark Lee. "We've put in a lot of hard work over the year, and hopefully this had paid off a bit."