Beaver Sports
Napanee’s Britt Benn and her Canada’s women’s rugby sevens teammates posted back-to-back strong showings in Dubai this month, finishing first and runner-up at the Emirates Invitational 7s.
The return to play marked the first tournaments for the Canadian rugby team in over a year due to the pandemic. The tournaments were played a week apart, with the first on April 2 followed by the other on April 9.
In Friday’s finals the Canadians lost 17-12 to France, just missing a second straight tournament championship.
Canada opened the tournament with a 29-10 loss to France but rebounded with a 60-0 defeat of Brazil.
The previous week Canada finished first in their pool by sweeping Brazil, Kenya and France. They went on to defeat the U.S. 31-14 in the finals.
Though not part of the HSBC world Rugby Sevens Series, the tournaments were a tune-up of sorts for teams as they prepare for the Tokyo Olympics. Delayed from last year due to the pandemic, the summer games are now scheduled to take place July 23-Aug. 8, 2021.
Benn was a member of Canada’s rugby sevens team that captured bronze in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016. That marked the first time rugby sevens was held at the Olympics. In June 2019 Benn and her teammates qualified for the Tokyo games, helping Canada to a top four finish in the HSBC season standings. During the 2019 qualifying tournament, Benn was named to the tournament’s Dream Team.