"Gutted" coach Tim Walsh harbours hope Australia can repeat their heroics at this week's Sydney Sevens rugby tournament despite falling flat on the final day of the Hamilton round.
The Australians lost their quarter-final 24-17 to hosts New Zealand on Sunday and suffered a 24-14 defeat to Scotland in a classification game.
It left them ranked seventh at successive tournaments, having also been outplayed by the All Blacks Sevens in their Cape Town quarter-final in December.
While Australia remain sixth on the world series standings, they are at risk of losing touch with the leading teams heading into the defence of their Sydney title.
The top four at the end of the 10-leg world series will qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Walsh has more immediate concerns after his young team showed glimpses of promise in Saturday's pool phase in Hamilton but failed to gel in attack on day two.
"Gutted, I can't hide my disappointment. We weren't good enough," Walsh told AAP.
"The competition is elite and we're certainly off the pace at the moment with probably the top four.
"We've got the right people and we're always optimistic but we have to turn the corner on attack."
Hopes of upsetting New Zealand disappeared when playmaker Maurice Longbottom was shown an early yellow card for a deliberate knockdown.
Two quick tries were conceded as they slipped to 17-0 down at the break.
Simon Kennewell, Lewis Holland and Josh Coward bagged what proved to be Australian consolation tries in the second spell.
Lachie Anderson and Longbottom crossed against the Scots but their defence leaked four tries as they lost to the British side for the first time in 10 meetings.
Kennewell impressed in his world series return a year after succumbing to serious knee ligament damage.
Walsh promised changes to his 12-man squad for Sydney, with Jesse Parahi to return from injury while some rotation is likely elsewhere.
Selecting the best attacking combinations is a priority for Walsh.
"We didn't penetrate the line and we didn't support well and we didn't respect the ball.
"Maybe Sydney is the time for us to put it all together."
Olympic champions Fiji defended their Hamilton title with a 38-0 rout of the United States in the final.
Jerry Tuwai and Alosio Naduva both bagged two tries as the Fijians dominated possession and ran in three tries in each half to move level with the US at the top of the standings.
LEADING STANDINGS AFTER THREE ROUNDS
Fiji 57 points, USA 57, New Zealand 54, South Africa 44, England 38, Australia 35, Scotland 33.
