Australian debutant Ellia Green scored a try in sudden-death extra time to help her side claim a 17-12 win over New Zealand for a third-place finish at the second round of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series in Houston.

The score was locked at 12-12 at full-time.

England won the title by downing the United States 29-12 in the final, a day after the England men’s team had won in Wellington.

In the semi-finals, the Australians lost 17-5 to the United States and England beat NZ 19-12.

New Zealand, who took out the inaugural women’s tournament in Dubai, have 34 points after two of the series’ four rounds.

Australia climbed into second place with 30, two ahead of England.

Green’s performance is all the more remarkable considering this was her first Sevens tournament at any level, having been identified at one of the Australian Rugby Union’s camps last year.

Rather than be overawed by the occasion, Green said she was raring for an opportunity to contribute.

“I was wanting the ball and I was just thinking catch me if you can. It was amazing, I couldn’t have done it without the support and encouragement of the whole team, they just gave me encouragement after every game and helped me improve throughout the tournament.”

Australia coach Chris Lane was pleased with his team’s performance, after a tough two days of competition.

“They gutsed it out. We had a quarter-final that went to extra time then the final that went to extra time,” said Lane of the tight tussle with South Africa that finished 17-12.

“They just showed a lot of ticker. Ellia may have scored the winning try, but that was a whole squad effort, everyone contributed to this over the two days.”

While Lane had hoped for a top two finish, he said his squad had achieved their goal of constant improvement.

The IRB Women’s Sevens World Series resumes in China on March 30-31.