Two key tries by leader Rhani Hagan set up the Queensland Reds when they stunned the NSW Waratahs 36-19 to take the Next Gen 7s final in Sydney today.
That's back-to-back Next Gen 7s titles for the Reds who brought their best form of the four-tournament series when it mattered most in Sydney today.
The Waratahs were the pacesetters through the preliminary rounds in Lennox Head, Sydney and Canberra but were forced to play catch up on finals day at Pittwater Rugby Park.
The Reds took care of the Waratahs (24-14) and ACT Brumbies (24-17) in the preliminaries before lining up against the Waratahs in the final.
The Reds grabbed a commanding 12-0 jump in the opening four minutes through the experienced Hagan and the team's least experienced player. On both occasions they clinically turned Waratahs mistakes into five-pointers.
The opening try was a thrill for 16-year-old Townsville schoolgirl Layne Prince who produced a big left-foot step to slice through the defence. Prince started all three games on finals day, a huge vote of confidence in a debutant from head coach Shannon Parry, the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist.
Hagan used her timing to hoodwink the Waratahs defence with a dummy and used her pace to sprint over.
It was 19-7 on the stroke of half-time when long-striding Emmisyn Wynyard scored a long-range try down the right touchline from the restart after a Waratahs try. Debutant Zoe Waters had collected the kick-off and popped a pass to Evie Sampson, who offloaded to Wynyard.
"I had just enough juice to reach the tryline. It's a great feeling to get the job done and win on finals day," Wynyard said.
Wynyard only proved her fitness last week after eight weeks out repairing two ruptured ligaments in her foot which made her a hazard around Ballymore while on a motorised scooter.
At 19-12 early in the second half, the match was in the balance until pacy Leilani Hills scooted over for 24-12.
Hagan put the result beyond doubt when she backed up Sampson, took a neat offload and ran over under the posts.
To complete the convincing six-try performance, flyer Matilda Vial crossed in the corner to celebrate her 19th birthday in style.
The Reds cherished possession, applied pressure with their defence and stayed composed.
It was a superb display when it mattered from Parry's young squad which included six players not in the winning 2025 outfit.
"We had a bunch of debutants in the squad for finals which shows how much talent there is in the sevens pathways in Queensland," Wynyard said.
"We were able to set our pace and tempo to the final and that enabled us to best play to our strengths."
Parry was delighted with the progress of the Reds squad from mid-February at Lennox Head in the open leg of the series to Sunday's finals.
"The biggest thing for us was putting in place our game for the full 14 minutes and we produced our best performance of the whole series in the final game," Parry said.
"I'm really pleased for the girls because we came through the inconsistencies of early rounds and responded really well to execute at key moments in the finals.
"Layne came into the squad and made a difference. It was a real positive that the Queensland Academy of Sport was able to fly her down to Brisbane to train in tournament week.
"Emmisyn worked really hard to get back from injury and showed her ability.
"Rhani really came to play in the finals and was a step above. She will keep getting better and better being in the full-time national set-up."
