Canada's women's rugby team posts 2 shutouts
Will face Great Britain in final pool game Sunday
By Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press
Through two matches, Canada's women's rugby sevens team has yet to surrender a point at the Olympics.
Karen Paquin fought her way to two tries against hosts Brazil in a 38-0 win Saturday evening, capping off a day that started with a 45-0 trouncing of Japan.
Canada will face Great Britain Sunday to determine first place in Pool C. The Brits were also strong on day one, winning 29-3 against Brazil and 40-0 against Japan.
The women's rugby sevens quarter-finals are Sunday afternoon and the medal games will be played Monday.
Women's rugby is making its Olympic debut in Rio and the Canadian women have been among the world's best for several years. They captured gold at last summer's Pan American Games and are coming off a victory on the last stop of the Women's Sevens Series, beating top-ranked Australia in the final and finishing third overall.
Canadian clinic on offence
Paquin's two tries were just part of Canada's dominating performance with ball in hand.
The team's first-ever try was scored by Ghislaine Landry less than 30 seconds into the match against Japan. The 28-year-old from Toronto and one of the most prolific scorers in the game added another try and three conversion kicks to her performance Saturday morning.
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Britt Benn added to the offensive output, pouncing on a Japanese turnover to run almost the length of the field for a try. With a glance over her shoulder, and no Japanese player within striking distance, Benn jogged the final 20 metres.
Bianca Farella added a pair of tries to help Canada take a 26-0 lead at halftime. Kayla Moleschi and Natasha Watcham-Roy also scored. Kelly Russell had two conversions.
The beauty about only having 2 games a day, it leaves time for a little napski in between matches 😴 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheLionsDen?src=hash">#TheLionsDen</a> <a href="https://t.co/HUbvInlawj">pic.twitter.com/HUbvInlawj</a>
—@jen_kishThe Canadian women were back to work later Saturday afternoon in a 38-0 rout of Brazil. Paquin and Bianca Farella each scored two, while captain Jen Kish and Kayla Moleschi added to the growing tally.
New Zealand and Australia also had lopsided wins, New Zealand beating Kenya 52-0 in Pool B and the Aussies routing Colombia 53-0 in Pool A.
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The growth in the game has been massive since the IOC voted to include the sport — World Rugby reported the percentage of female players has risen from 10 per cent to more than 30.
The Canadians are "absolutely" aware, said Landry, of what they can do for the future of the sport.
"But it's not what we're thinking about in the moment," she said. "If we put on a good performance, that's going to kind of do leaps and bounds for the sport. Worried about the process and our game, and I think the rest will take care of itself."
The Canadian women have been among the world's best for several years. They captured gold at last summer's Pan American Games in Toronto, and finished third on the world circuit this season, finishing on a high note by beating Australia to win the Cup in Clermont-Ferrand, France.
They're seeded third in the Olympic field behind No. 1 Australia and No. 2 New Zealand. Britain was seeded fourth.
Should the Canadian women win their pool, they would play the runner-up in Pool A in the quarter-finals. A runner-up finish would mean a Canadian quarter-final date with the Pool B runner-up.
With files from CBC Sports