The Australian men’s rugby sevens team has fallen agonisingly short of a maiden Olympic medal, suffering a heartbreaking 26-19 loss to South Africa in Saturday’s bronze medal match in Paris.

With only six men on the field, Australia scored twice in the final three minutes to tie the scores at 19-19 in front of a raucous crowd at Stade de France.

However, South Africa’s Shaun Williams shattered Australian hearts by diving over in added time, with the African nation winning its first rugby sevens Olympic medal since 2016.

Early in the second half, Australian captain Nick Malouf copped a red card after his shoulder made contact with a rival player’s jaw during a tackle.

The Blitzboks immediately took advantage of the one-man deficit, scoring consecutive tries and cruising towards a 19-7 lead with three minutes remaining.

However, Australia showed immense courage in the dying minutes, with tries for Corey Toole and Henry Patterson putting John Manenti’s side on the verge of a miraculous comeback before Williams’ late heroics.

“It’s heartbreak for the Aussies,” Channel 9 commentator Sean Maloney said.

“The bravest of brave Aussies performances.”

Fourth remains the national team’s best finish at the Olympics, having previously placed eighth and seventh in Rio and Tokyo respectively.

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“It’s a tough way to finish, we fought so hard to get back in the game,” Australian coach Manenti said.

“We threw all our attacking weapons on and threw the dice. Six men, down two and got ourselves back in the fight… the guys played their hearts out.

“We’re all devastated at the moment but when we go home and think about how we played for three days in a row at this stadium in front of 70,000 people it’s a good result and pretty special.”

Earlier, Australia was thrashed by Fiji 31-7 in the second semi-final, with the reigning champions scoring 31 unanswered points in the one-sided contest.

The Australians defended exceptionally in the first half but shot themselves in the foot during the second stanza with several missed tackles and dropped high balls.

Later on Sunday morning AEST, hosts France defeated Fiji 28-7 in the final to win its first gold medal of the Paris Games.

The Australian women’s rugby sevens side gets its Olympic campaign underway on Sunday, facing South Africa from midnight AEST.