Viena Tinao’s quest for a national title has fallen agonisingly short, with her NSW under 17 rugby sevens team pipped in the final of the National Youth Sevens Championships in Brisbane.
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A member of the NSW White squad, Tinao’s side was unbeaten throughout the pool stage, before comprehensively defeating Queensland White 38-0 in the semi-final.
That victory set up a final showdown with rivals and state counterparts NSW Blue.
A try midway through the second half put NSW Blue ahead 12-5, however NSW White refused to give up and spent the remainder of the match attacking their opponents line.
NSW White mounted wave after wave of attack and eventually, more than a minute after the siren sounded, crossed out wide to cut the deficit to just two.
After starting on target, the challenging conversion attempt drifted wide of the goalposts, with Tinao’s NSW White ultimately falling 12 points to 10.