France made a surprise run to the final, their first appearance in the title round since 2012, but came up short despite tries from Pierre Gilles Lakafia and Stephen Parez.
The United States, who lead standings and won the previous tournament in Las Vegas, were routed 33-5 in the semi-finals by France. South Africa had advanced to the final by beating Fiji 31-12 in their last four match.
The top four teams at the end of the season will earn automatic qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
