World champions New Zealand have proven too strong for an undermanned Australia to win the Gold Coast rugby sevens world series tournament on Sunday.

The Kiwis overcame a sluggish start to run over Australia and take out the title with a 40-19 victory.

It’s New Zealand’s first tournament win on the Gold Coast after finishing as runner-up to Fiji in the past two years.

Australia went into the final without ex-Gold Coast Titan Shannon Walker and in-form star Nick Malouf after both suffered head knocks in a gruelling semi-final clash against South Africa.

Despite their lack of bodies, the hosts made a bright start, racing to a 12-0 lead thanks to early tries from captain Ed Jenkins and veteran James Stannard.

But New Zealand didn’t take too long to get into their stride with a double to Ambrose Curtis and two deadeye conversions by Tomasi Cama giving the favourites a 14-12 advantage at halftime.

Cama then scored a third for New Zealand after the break before Waisake Naholo and Joe Webber put them out of reach.

Cameron Clark scored for Australia but even that counted for little as David Raikuna went over under the posts as the final siren sounded.

It capped a dominant tournament by Sir Gordon Tietjens’ men who didn’t concede a point on their way to the semi-finals and were only really challenged by England in a narrow 14-5 semi-final win.

Australia, seeking their first tournament win on home soil since 2002, were always unlikely to bounce back for the final after a marathon 24-19 extra-time win over South Africa in the semis.

Coach Michael O’Connor was left to patch up his team as best he could following Jesse Parahi’s winning try late in the second period of sudden-death added time.

In the minor competitions, the United States claimed the shield title, France took out the bowl and two-time defending champions Fiji had to settle for the plate after being eliminated by England in the quarter-finals.

The next stop in the world series is the Dubai Sevens on November 29-30.