Dutch hosts ready for test ahead of European qualifiers

Former Australia coach Chris Lane has been an interested spectator of the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series this season after the Netherlands failed to secure core team status through the qualifier last year, but now he's keen to see how his charges measure up when they take their place in the Amsterdam Sevens this weekend. 

Chris, what did you make of your native Australia winning the London Sevens?

They love to come behind and win a tournament, don’t they? They are very fit and they play a different style of game to everyone else and it is working for them. I left my position as Australia women’s sevens coach after the World Cup (in 2013) and a lot of the younger players who I worked with are now coming through and doing very well.

So what have been your impressions of the 2014-15 World Series as a whole?

I’ve been so impressed with the series. The skill level of all the teams has risen. Re-starts, for example, were once a problem for some teams but they have improved across the board. The series seems to be getting better and better with every tournament, and that improvement is in line with the improvement we’re enjoying as a team. This weekend’s tournament will be a good yardstick as to where we are at.

Talk us through the nine months since you lost the series core team quarter-final qualifier against South Africa

We've had tough competition without the pressure that comes with being on the World Series, which has helped accelerate our development as a team. To go away to places like Las Vegas and win a tournament and to get to the semi-finals in Hong Kong has been really good for us. We also played four games in Japan. Winning creates a different vibe in your team, and we are learning how to close out games that otherwise might have been lost. We always seemed to draw New Zealand the last time were on the series and we got bumped every time. When you're losing like that all of the time it can become demoralising.

How have you improved as a team then in this time away from the series?

We're a lot more grounded. By that I mean we're a lot more realistic in our ambitions than perhaps has been the case in the past. I've made the girls aware of where we are in the world. We are capable of getting into the quarter-finals this weekend with the pool we've got (Canada, France and Spain) but it won’t be the end of the world if we don’t achieve it. Previously the side would set themselves unrealistic goals and then be disappointed when they didn't reach them.

How have you prepared for this weekend's Amsterdam Sevens?

A fortnight ago we played England and France three times apiece on separate days 48 hours apart, with a game against Tunisia thrown in for good measure. We lost all three games against England but we were right in the match at half-time, either losing by a couple of points or with the scores tied, before being overpowered in the second half. I said to the girls afterwards that we proved we can match it with the top sides but we need to do it for a whole game not just a half. When we played France they had some players missing due to club 15s commitments and we had two wins and a draw against what was effectively a France B team. That said, they were all players with Six Nations experience. For a non-rugby country like ours to fare so well against a side steeped in rugby history was really pleasing.

What are your immediate goals?

Obviously Olympic qualification is the number one priority, and this weekend’s events will have a massive bearing on it. If one of the European sides can sneak into the top four and qualify via that route it will take one quality team out of the European qualifiers in Russia, which is obviously a good thing for us and the rest of the sides competing there. The Netherlands (Amsterdam)  Sevens is not our biggest focus of the year but for our long-term planning it is a good opportunity to see how some of our best youngsters get on when they're exposed to top level international competition. It is ideal preparation for the Euros given the pool we're in. We're going to be playing Canada, one of the top three sides in the world, and two really competitive European teams in France and Spain.

What can regulars watchers of the series expect from the Netherlands this weekend?

Hopefully they'll see a different team to what's been in the past. The Netherlands has always been seen as an athletic team but not a physical one. We've definitely improved our contact skills and it was really satisfying to get positive feedback from England and France about that area of our game after we'd played them. We want to continue to develop our attack and add more variety; we've got a few things up our sleeves which might surprise a few people.

Which players should we look out for?

Marsha Volkers and Pleuni Kievit have both come through under-18s programme and are still at school. Both are very, very good decision makers in attack which is something we’ve lacked in the past. They have performed well at lower level tournaments so I’m really looking forward to seeing how they get on at the next level. Nikki Weyers has been in our programme for the last 18 months and in the last three of those things are really starting to come together for her with all her hard work in training now translating into solid performances on the field in matches.

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