Canada women win all three games on opening day of Las Vegas Sevens

LAS VEGAS – The Canadian women’s rugby sevens team won all three matches Friday on Day 1 of the HSBC U.S.A. Sevens.

Canada won its group, finishing the day with a 21-7 win over France after thumping Russia 34-7 and Argentina 38-7.

The Canadian women led France 14-7 at the half on tries by Hannah Darling and captain Ghislaine Landry. Kayla Moleschi increased the lead early in the second half, stealing the ball and racing for the french try-line.

“The French game was a really good battle there at the end,” said Canadian head coach John Tait. “You need that on Day 1 to get ready for Day 2. The first two games we got up early so didn’t really feel it until the third game.”

Canada won the last stop on the HSBC Women’s Sevens circuit, defeating the U.S. 21-17 to win the Sydney sevens. It marked the second win in three World Series tournaments for Canada, dating back to the final event of last season in France.

Britt Benn scored three tries against Russia with Moleschi and Landry adding singles.

Bianca Farella scored a hat trick of tries against Argentina with Natasha Watcham-Roy, Breanne Nicholas and Charity Williams also scoring.

“We need to be a little bit more accurate with our passing,” said Tait. “On a narrow pitch like that, you’ve got to have your depth and be tighter otherwise you’ll run into the sidelines. We’ve had a day on it now so hopefully be able to make the adjustments tomorrow.”

Canada, which placed sixth in the opening tournament in Dubai, came into the tournament third in the overall standings behind Series leader New Zealand and No. 3 Australia.