The Australians got to the top step of the podium a lot and New Zealand had to settle for silver ... a lot.
Burden coached the Touch Blacks mixed team and they came so close to glory, but were pipped 8-7 by Australia on Sunday.
The team had a strong Otago representation.
Atawhai Hotene, Molly Wheeley and Mariana Winiana all flew the flag for the region.
Hotene, 27, and Winiana, 26, scored more than 50 tries between them.
They had a personal battle going on and Hotene got the win by a single try.
"Silver is still awesome but, yeah, there were some heartbreaking losses," Burden said.
"My team lost in extra time.
"It was tied 7-7 at the end of regulation time and in touch it drops down to four on four for two minutes.
"And unfortunately, at the end of the two minutes, the Aussies have scored and we hadn’t and it was all over.
"When you are in the moment it is pretty disappointing, but it was good for the spectators and there were thousands there.
"You couldn’t find a place on the side of the field."
The New Zealand men’s team were also defeated by Australia in the final. They lost 9-6.
Dunedin’s Toni Wall was managing the side and Otago was well-represented in other teams as well.
Meg Sycamore and Trisha Hopcroft played in the women’s team, which was beaten 6-2 by Australia, and Naomi Ireland Tupa’i, Jarrod Powell and Shane Scott turned out for the senior (over-30s) mixed team and were edged 10-9 in another thriller.
"We had high expectations, especially in our mixed crew.
"We were hoping to go one better than Kuala Lumpur.
"We put in a really good performance but there were just a coupe of big moments in the game which we didn’t quite ice and the Aussies did."
