Great Britain held off a spirited French side 10-7 in their semi-final and despite Bath University’s Patrick Jenkinson and Christopher Levesley helping the Brits to an early 10-0 lead, the Uniroos refused to lie down.
Thomas Merrit, Fred Dorrough and Lachlan Anderson fired the Aussies into a 19-10 half-time lead. Loughborough University’s Samuel Pointon and James Beal edged the hosts 20-19 ahead by the time the hooter sounded, but Mitchell had the final say.
Durham University’s Robert Stevenson was proud despite the cruellest of losses.
“Getting to the final is no mean feat and everyone left it out on the pitch, you can’t ask for much more than that,” the 20-year-old said.
“We just didn’t quite get over the line, but I am immensely proud of all the boys and all they have put in over the past week.”
Australia punished Spain 43-0 in the semi-final and wrapped up their first World University Championship with an unbeaten record.
Captain Mitchell was full of praise for both sides after clinching glory. “I knew if we could get the ball we could find away to the line and I am ecstatic,” the Queensland University of Technology student said.
“Great Britain are a real quality side and it showed out there, but the boys dug in deep and it is just such an unbelievable feeling to win it.”
Matthew Ford scored twice to secure third place for the French, while 2018 hosts Namibia bagged a best-ever fifth-place finish with a 20-0 win over Italy.
French women’s captain Joanna Sainlo and Lenaig Corson both grabbed braces as they put two successive World University Championship final losses to bed with a convincing 31-5 victory against Canada.
Captain Sainlo could scarcely hide her delight after wrapping up the title. She said: “I am very, very proud of my team-mates, we played together and everybody was fantastic,” the French captain said.
Canada – who beat France in the 2014 final– had worked harder for their semi-final win, edging Japan 7-5 and came up short against a vastly experienced, powerful French side.
Fan-favourites Japan too sealed their best ever finish of third at the Championship after beating Portugal 24-12 with another superb attacking display.
Great Britain won the play-off for fifth with a 15-10 victory against Italy.
The World University Championships are part of the sporting events of the International University Sports Federation. #WUCRugby7s2016 sees over 19 teams from 14 nations competing in a three day competition. For more information visit http://wucrugby2016.com/
Full results, day three World University Championship Rugby Sevens:
Women’s semi-final 1: France 26-0 Portugal
Men’s semi-final 1: Australia 43-0 Spain
Women’s semi-final 2: Canada 7-5 Japan
Men’s semi-final 2: Great Britain 10-7 France
Men’s 7/8/9 Playoff: Czech Republic 7-19 Malaysia
Women’s 9/10 play-off: New Zealand 21-5 Australia
Women’s 7/8 play-off: Spain 7-10 PR China
Men’s 7/8/9 play-off: Malaysia 7-21 Argentina
Women’s 5/6 play-off: Great-Britain 15-10 Italy
Men’s 5/6 play-off: Namibia 20-0 Italy
Men’s 7/8/9 play-off: Czech Republic 5-12 Argentina
Women’s 3/4 play-off: Portugal 12-24 Japan
Men’s 3/4 play-off: Spain 7-27 France
Women’s Final: France 31-5 Canada
Men’s Final: Australia 24-20 Great Britain
