England-based hooker Emily Tuttosi scored three tries as Canada showed they could be Rugby World Cup title contenders with a 41-5 win over Japan.
Canada are ranked fourth in the world and have come into this tournament in strong form after recent wins over Australia, the United States, Fiji, Italyand Wales. Their only loss in the past six games was to New Zealand.
Big and physical with a rugged approach to defence, Canada also have powerful ball handlers among both their tight and loose forwards. They used their size and strength today to eventually overpower Japan, scoring five tries before halftime.
Canada made all the running in the match, scoring the opening try through winger Paige Farries after only two minutes. Japan leveled the scores at 5-5 with a try in the sixth minute to Maki Takano.
From then on, Canada exerted almost total control with a perfect record at set pieces. Tuttosi scored her first try from a lineout drive in the 14th minute and her second from a more powerful drive in the 29th minute.
Halfback Brianna Miller made a dashing break from broken play to score the first of her two first-half tries in the 25th minute.
"We're really glad we walked away with the win today," Miller said. "We had a bit of a challenge today in our discipline so we just have to fine-tune some things in our game plan and our discipline.
"We'll just enjoy today's win and concentrate on our next game in the next couple of days."
