Adam Prudhomme
Editor
A broken nose wasn’t enough to slow Napanee’s Britt Benn at the World Rugby Series in Dubai this weekend as she helped Canada to a silver finish.
She also earned her way onto the tournament’s HSBC Dream Team in the process, making her one of the top seven standouts from the tournament.
The showing was all the more impressive given that Benn was making her season debut after missing the first series with an injury.
“I definitely missed playing with the team on our first World Series Stop in Denver, Colorado,” Benn told the Beaver from Cape Town, South Africa as the Canadians prepared for the next series stop this coming weekend. “After a couple months of rehabbing my injury, I was given the green light to travel with the team to Dubai for our second World Series stop. Stepping back on the field was such a relief, I was finally back where I belonged; with my Canadian rugby family.”
Unfortunately it didn’t take long before Benn was back in the trainer’s room, breaking her nose in her second match of the tournament against Russia.
“During the second half I tackled one of the Russian players in a last ditch effort to trip up her feet before she broke the defensive line,” said Benn. “Unfortunately my face absorbed the majority of the tackle and resulted in a broken nose and three stitches in my lip.”
Fortunately it takes a lot more than that to keep the Napanee native out of a game.
“I was cleared by the tournament doctor to continue playing as long as I could push through the possibility of my nose being hit again,” said Benn. “It was definitely painful and challenging at times but hoping it heals a little more before playing in Cape Town this weekend.”
Sporting a bandage on her nose, Benn scored a try in the next game against the US. It would stand as Canada’s lone try of the game however as they fell 34-10 to finish with a 2-1 record in pool play. They went on to defeat France 19-7 in the quarter-finals and Australia 26-12 in the semifinals before losing to New Zealand 17-14 in the finals.
The second place finish moved Canada into fourth place in the season standings with 28 points behind New Zealand and the US, both with 36 while Australia has 32.
Canada will look to close the gap this weekend in the Cape Town series, Dec. 13-15.