November 30, 2017 - 8:58 AM
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Canada’s women’s sevens team had a good start to the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series on Thursday, going 3-0 on the first day of the Dubai Sevens to qualify for its 27th straight Cup quarterfinal.
The Canadians opened with a 19-0 win over Spain before blanking Ireland 31-0 and downing Fiji 31-14 to claim top spot in Pool C.
"Just want we wanted to do," Canadian Britt Benn said of the perfect start. "We came out and play hard. stayed connected. We're happy with the result headed into Day 2."
Julia Greenshields scored five tries for Canada, including a hat-trick against Fiji. Emma Chown and Tausani Levale also made their senior team debuts, scoring tries.
Next up for John Tait's team is France, which beat the U.S and South Africa and lost to New Zealand.
In the other quarterfinals Friday, it's New Zealand versus the U.S., Russia versus Spain and Australia versus England.
The men kick off their campaign Friday in Dubai.
After Dubai, the women will take part in World Series stops in Australia, Japan, Langford, B.C., and France.
New Zealand dominated the 2016-17 circuit, taking five of six events. Canada won the other stop, defeating the U.S., in the Sydney final for its third ever tournament win (the others were Amsterdam in 2015 and Clermont in 2016) and finished third overall. Australia was second.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2017