CANADA'S WOMEN ADVANCE TO CUP QUARTERFINALS AT DUBAI SEVENS

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Watch day one’s highlights: https://youtu.be/-XJO80s7c0U

Canada’s women’s sevens team has advanced to their 27^th straight HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series Cup Quarterfinal after finishing day one of the Dubai Sevens with a perfect 3-0 record.

Canada opened the season with a 19-0 win over Spain before defeating Ireland 31-0 in their second match of the day and finished with a 31-14 victory over Fiji to claim top spot in Pool C.

Canada did not concede a point until the match against Fiji and outscored their opponents 81-14 in taking three wins from three.

"Was really happy with the composure we showed today," said head coach John Tait. "We had a couple of handling errors but didn’t allow it to turn into any points and we stuck to our structures and got a comfortable win in the end. Then we hit our stride against Ireland and had contributions from all 12 and were clinical in some pretty challenging heat. We didn’t panic when Fiji scored the first try off of a few aggressive penalties we took and in the end again we had everyone step up and contribute to the result."

Julia Greenshields led the way on attack for Canada, scoring five tries including a hat-trick against Fiji. She finished the day second in tournament scoring with 25 points. Captain Ghislaine Landry, the all-time series scoring leader, chipped in with 20 points but also provided some muscle on the defensive end.

"Julia is filling her role as our finisher really well," said Tait. "The ladies on the inside are getting her the ball in space and when that happens she is really dangerous with her speed. Thought Ghislaine did great again today, really stepped up big on defense against Fiji."

Emma Chown and Tausani Levale also made their senior team debuts, as both players touched down with their first career WSS tries.

Canada will play France in the Cup Quarterfinals.

"We have France who played some good rugby today and are always a tough physical game for us," said Tait. "We are confident though if we keep building from today that we can get the result against them."

Canada’s Dubai Sevens Roster (Name - Club, Hometown):

Britt Benn – Guelph Redcoats (Napanee, ON)

Emma Chown – Kingston Panthers (Barrie, ON)

Caroline Crossley – Castaway Wanderers (Victoria, BC)

Hannah Darling – Peterborough Pagans (Warsaw, ON)

Julia Greenshields – Sarnia Saints (Sarnia, ON)

Jen Kish – Edmonton Rockers (Edmonton, ON)

Tausani Levale – Abbotsford Griffins (Abbotsford, BC)

Ghislaine Landry – Toronto Scottish (Toronto, ON)

Megan Lukan – Unattached (Barrie, ON)

Kayla Moleschi – Williams Lake Rustlers (Williams Lake, BC)

Breanne Nicholas – London St. Georges RFC (Blenheim, ON)

Natasha Watcham-Roy – Hull Volant (Gatineau, QC)

Injured:

Bianca Farella - Town of Mount Royal RFC (Montreal, QC)

Sara Kaljuvee – Toronto Scottish (Ajax, ON)

Kaili Lukan - Unattached (Barrie, ON)

Charity Williams - Markham Irish (Toronto, ON)

Canada's Dubai Sevens Day 1 Schedule (Thursday, November 30):

Canada 19-0 Spain

Canada 31-0 Ireland

Canada 31-14 Fiji

Canada's Dubai Sevens Day 1 Schedule (Friday, December 1):

Canada vs France at 1:06 am ET / 10:06 pm PT (Thursday)

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