A 31-year-old Perth touch footballer is the toast of Australian rugby after sealing a fairytale triumph in the inaugural women's Sevens World Cup.

Surprise-packet Shelly Matcham scored the title-winning try 40 seconds into sudden-death extra-time for a 15-10 victory over New Zealand in the final in Dubai.

In an angled 20m sprint to the line, the tall physiotherapist was brought down by two NZ defenders a metre out but managed to dive over just inside the corner, sparking heady team celebrations.

Making Matcham's moment of glory all the more unlikely, she sat on the bench for three of Australia's first four games before making a huge impact in the comeback 19-10 semi-final win over South Africa.

"It's amazing," she said. "I had been sitting on the bench for about three games, got my shot in the semi and the girls had so much belief in me.

"I just knew when I got that ball I wanted to do it for them. You dream of this."

Matcham, who also set up two tries in the second-half comeback against South Africa, was one of four touch stars who bolstered the 14-woman Australian squad at the tournament.

Coach Jason Stanton said the touch quartet, which included youngster Nicole Beck who scored the opening try in the second minute of the final, complemented his regulars who have been "the cornerstone of women's rugby".

Stanton's plans to attack more-favoured rivals with a physical, direct game paid off in the knockout stages, upsetting top-seeds England 17-10 in the quarter-final after falling to France in pool play.

"I think our girls really got tough and rolled their sleeves up and that worked," he said. "Our self-belief was great too."

Australia then had to overcome having players sent to the sin-bin in both the semi-final and final to clinch the trophy.

ARU supremo John O'Neill, who was in the Australians' team box with high-performance manager David Nucifora, lavished praise on the history-making performance.

"Australian rugby is immensely proud of their achievement," he said in a statement.

"They also fulfilled their ambitions by displaying some of the greatest Australian characteristics.

"The tremendous determination, guts and composure they displayed was a hallmark of this landmark success."

While rugby mainly draws players from NSW and Queensland, the Australian team also contained members from Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT.

Perth's Debby Hodgkinson was named player of the tournament.

The triumph gives Australia direct qualification into the next Sevens World Cup in 2013 and the team is also looking further afield to the 2016 Olympic Games.

Women's sevens is a key plank in the International Rugby Board's efforts to be admitted to the Olympics and Stanton believed the quality of play from all 16 teams had presented a strong case for inclusion.

Michael O'Connor's Australian men's team was knocked out in pool play before losing the Plate final 21-17 to Scotland.

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