Australia's inconsistency continues to haunt them on the men's world rugby sevens circuit, with the hosts ruing another missed chance, this time on home soil.
Tim Walsh's men were confined to sixth at the Sydney Sevens, with South Africa scoring on the bell on Sunday night to beat the hosts 12-10 in a reverse of last year's grand final result in Sydney.
That followed Australia's brave, physical defeat of France and a tight quarter-final loss to Fiji earlier in the day at Spotless Stadium.
New Zealand won their second leg of the series in a 21-5 defeat of the United States to consign the Eagles to their fourth-consecutive grand-final loss this season and catapulted the Kiwis to the top of the series ladder.
In six games across two long days, Australia produced the good, bad and ugly which followers of the team have come to expect and the coach is trying to eliminate.
A thrilling defeat of South Africa on Saturday night helped them to squeeze into the quarters, while a strong showing against Fiji despite two in-game injuries proved they could match it with the world's best.
But a disappointing loss to Argentina in their opening game made the task harder and, ultimately, led to their quarter-final date with the Olympic champions and winners of the previous two world series legs.
Australia sit sixth in the series standings and need a top-four finish this year to earn direct entry to the 2020 Olympic Games.
They have won just once on the world series in seven years, with last year's triumph in Sydney not having the flow-on effect they might have hoped for.
Former Australian women's coach Walsh, who took over after last year's Commonwealth Games, continues to be frustrated by their standing.
"At our best, we're competing with the world's best and, when we're not, we're down competing with the sixth, seventh, eighth teams," he said.
"It's that mental side; at our best, we're up there and should be on the podium. It's about finding that mental toughness and resilience."
Believing that it's not simply a case of his side lacking the talent, Walsh hopes improvements will come without making drastic personnel changes.
"We are working on things to change that mindset," he said.
"We're bitterly disappointed, but they put in a really good fight there (against Fiji) and there will be some positives from that," he said.
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