Canadian women’s rugby sevens team opens World Series season with three wins
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Canada opened the 2016-17 HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series on a winning note Thursday, posting three wins to advance to the quarter-finals.
The Canadian women, who finished third overall on the circuit last season, will play No. 7 Russia on Friday in the knockout round. It marks the 21st straight tournament that Canada has advanced to the quarter-finals.
Canada needed a late Charity Williams try to beat Brazil 26-19 before downing Spain 27-7 to set up a match with England for top spot in the pool. The Canadians, who thumped Britain 33-10 to win Olympic bronze in Rio this summer, dispatched England 24-12.
“It was a bit of a rough start in the morning but we’ve been building over the three games so that’s good,” said Ghislaine Landry, who is captaining Canada in the absence of the injured Jen Kish.