Australia missed the chance to take the big scalp they were after and put an exclamation mark on a successful first day of the inaugural Sydney 7s by drawing 17-all with arch-rivals New Zealand.
Ahead 17-10 in the dying minutes and holding possession, the Thunderbolts appeared to have an upset in their keeping.
But a breakdown penalty and then a missed tackle out wide by Henry Speight saw Ardie Savea score under the posts in the last play of the match to deflate the Allianz Stadium home crowd.
There was a boilover in the making when playmaker James Stannard dived over just before halftime for a shock 17-5 lead.
But New Zealand, who came back from the dead to win their home tournament last week, are never out of the game and once again showed their mettle.
The Australians - beaten at the quarter-final stage at the three previous tournaments - play England on Sunday morning after the injury-hit English topped pool D thanks to a first-half howler by USA speedster Perry Baker.
Baker burnt the defence but embarrassingly stood on the dead-ball line before dotting down in the first half, changing the momentum of a game which the Americans eventually lost 17-14.
Defending world series champions Fiji established early tournament favouritism with the most impressive day one displays, thrashing Samoa 31-0 before smashing France 49-5.
They will play Kenya in the quarters after overcoming Argentina 19-14 in their final pool game, while the Kenyans fought bravely against South Africa, going down 26-19.
Shortening the odds on the Flying Fijians is the fact that South Africa, to meet Argentina in the quarters, and England both suffered key injuries to be left with just three reserves on Sunday.
The pace-setting Blitzboks lost captain Philip Snyman (wrist) and Kwagga Smith (shoulder), while the English will be stretched without Dan Bibby (shoulder) and Warwick Lahmert (neck).
It took until the penultimate game, but there was one upset for the fans to enjoy with Portugal skinning Canada 26-17.
Australian captain Ed Jenkins described the draw as a bitter-sweet end to the day.
"We probably should have shut them out at the end so it was a bit disappointing, but we can look at it that we didn't lose a game today and we should take confidence going into the quarter-final," he said.
New Zealand coach Sir Gordon Tietjens was full of praise for both Anzac sides, as well as the tournament's Sydney debut.
Darth Vader, Ron Burgundy, Fred Flintstone, Pope Francis and Quade Cooper were among the 36,218 spectators who lapped up the day one action in an attendance which justified the tournament's venue switch from the Gold Coast.
The big crowd drunk a number of the Allianz Stadium bars dry of beer before new supplies were called for.
"I always thought it was going to be like this at the Gold Coast but it was never was and this is really the first time I've heard people screaming for Australia," Tietjens said.
Lewis Holland was the Thunderbolts' day one stand-out while Cameron Clark produced for his "Clarky Army" support group with a hat-trick against Portugal.
