Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Napanee’s Britt Benn and her women’s rugby sevens Team Canada teammates began their quest to qualify for the 2020 Olympics on a strong note, finishing third at the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Seven Series opener held in Colorado.
Benn scored a key try in Canada’s 24-10 pool-play win over France, helping the Canadians secure a 3-0 record and a trip to the semifinals. Canada also picked up a 26-7 and 24-12 win over Fiji and Ireland in pool-play.
Canada traded tries with New Zealand early in the semifinals but in the end came up just short in a 28-19 loss. They rebounded to top France 28-0 to claim bronze.
The third place finish gives Canada 16 points top open the six stop series, four back of New Zealand and two back of the U.S. Teams that finish in the top four at the end of the season will earn an automatic berth into the 2020 Olympics, which will be held in Tokyo. Benn and her Canadian teammates are looking to build off their bronze medal showing at the Rio games, which was the first time sevens rugby was featured at the Olympic games.
Canada’s next seven series match will take place Nov. 29-30 in Dubai.