Danes ready for Europe’s best

Denmark have been involved in European Sevens since 2007, but have never competed higher than the second tier of the continent’s championship – so taking on teams such as the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland will be a whole new experience for everyone, includingteam managerMike Hawkins.

Mike took over the helm in January 2015, following the team’s relegation to Division B the previous summer. How did he get involved with the team?

“I have been living in Denmark for 14 years and been involved in rugby here mostly as a Club Chairman for Randers and as a referee, but when the Team Manager position was advertised internally by the Danish Rugby Union (DRU), I jumped at the chance to get involved with elite level rugby.”

What are the challenges involved with coaching and managing Denmark?

“There were, and still are, challenges of different sorts; from administration, to communication, to finances.

“There is a lot of paperwork that needs to be presented to e.g. Rugby Europe and other tournament organisers, and there is no getting around it. So it's just a matter of working in a structured manner with check-lists and making sure it's all handed in on time. I would hate for the girls missing out on being able to play because I missed a deadline!

“Communication is particularly interesting challenge for a national team - both internally with all the players, the Danish Rugby Union (DRU), team coaches etc., but also externally with rugby organisations, potential sponsors and the media. We want transparency but we don't want to overload people with too much information. And of course everyone's "information needs" are different - so we use different channels to communicate everything - facebook, email, Twitter, Instagram - and word of mouth to a certain degree.

“Financially I believe we are in a similar situation to many women’s rugby teams. Just recently Scrumqueens had an article about funding for the Canadian women's XVs team. When even big countries like that struggle then the situation for nearly all women's sevens teams outside of WSWS and perhaps GPS is inevitably difficult.”

Where do your players come from – how do they get into rugby?

“All of our players have Danish passports and that is something we have focused on for some time now. And a number of our players are also aged between 20-25, so we can hopefully secure a certain degree of longevity in eligible players. The majority of them live on Zealand, the larger island where Copenhagen is situated, but we also have national players from Jutland. Women only play sevens in Denmark, so all of their training in their clubs also prepares them for game. We have ambitions to play XVs in the future, but for now sevens is our way of growing the women’s game.

“The players tend to get into the game through personal contact, or from trying it at school. It's not a well-known sport here and we have to compete with a lot of the other sports. But the DRU is getting more and more involved with rugby at schools. Recent changes to the National Curriculum means more time for physical activity and, along with the values of rugby, we can offer a great alternative to the more "traditional" Danish sports.”

What are the targets for Denmark?

“The target for this year was getting promotion to Division A after being relegated last year. The possibility of getting to the repechage was an added bonus, and the effort the girls have put in made this possible. They've trained hard in all sorts of weather since the New Year, and it paid off. Now our aim is to stay in Division A. The bonus of being in the repecharge is that we will get to see four of next year’s top Division A teams, and this will give a good indication of our level.”

What did you make of your first experience of European Sevens at the Division B tournament last month. Are there any teams or players to watch?

“Israel, who were of course promoted with us, were dominant in their group. Malta and Turkey looked good, as did Latvia who gave us and Israel difficulties. As for the standard generally - it's perhaps difficult for me to say as I'm reasonably new to the women's game. A lot of the teams were very similar in standard - but how big the gap between the middle of Division A and Division B is, I'm not sure. But they all seemed to enjoy the competition - they all wanted to win and all put in an enormous amount of effort on the field!

“Doing the men's and women's tournament at the same time was not a bad idea - there were a lot of spectators and a good buzz around the stadium and the teams' hotel - but when the games are on two pitches then there needs to be two internet streams. We had over 200 people together in Copenhagen to watch the stream and then they didn't show the women. There were a lot of disappointed supporters back home. And there should be wifi at stadium, especially when there is no stream, so we can send reports and photos back home straight after the games.

“With regards to the team’s preparations - I wouldn't change a thing. They train hard, eat right and show great dedication. It's a pleasure and honour to be their Team Manager.”

Who in your team should we look out for in Lisbon?

“Oh that's a tricky question - because if I name 2-3 players then the others won't talk to me ever again!

“But what I did realise this weekend, is that no matter who the starting seven are, we have a very strong team. Of course they each have their individual strengths, but collectively they have a really strong bond and know that they can trust one another to get the job done.

“Of course Pernille Mortensen, the team captain, did extremely well and was named women's player of the tournament. She sets a great example, and is supported well by the experienced players. All the newer players look up to them.”

Realistically, what would success in Lisbon look like?

“Ideally I would like to see us get into the quarter-finals. As the lowest ranked team we will meet Spain, Portugal and Germany (who got relegated to Division A) in the pool stage, so a third place could see us through. After that you never know - Finland ended were up third in their pool in Division A recently and then managed to finish second in the tournament!”