Netherlands: “The serious business begins here”

Last month's World Series tournament in Amsterdam was a disappointing one for the Dutch.

Faced with a must-win game at the end of Day One?˜against Brazil, who they had never previously lost to,?˜the Dutch put in possibly their worst performance in their short professional era, going down to a shock 5-0 defeat.?˜

"We know we will need to finish in at least the top five to go onto the World Series qualifier and we??re capable of that, but if we play like we did?˜on day one in Amsterdam.?˜we??re going to embarrass ourselves again."

" I made a few changes?˜for day two?˜after a really honest discussion with the girls and there were some honest realisations. We made some changes to the way we approached,?˜adjusted our mindset and you saw the difference. That was the real Netherlands. It was the same 12 girls, same skills, but I made some changes to what happens between their ears. They were almost too relaxed on day?˜one, the next day,?˜they were more intense with more emphasis on winning that one to one.

"Our skillset has improved a lot in the last six months I??ve been here. We??ve done a lot of skill work. We got caught up in the occasion, playing in from of home fans, playing in front of family. Sometimes when you play in front?˜of people you know you almost try too hard. I think you saw us eventually?˜play with a bit of width, we moved the ball from side to side, and that is how we want to play. But the challenge is changing their mindset so that they can do it consistently. The blonde hair and blue eyes thing is great for promotion, but it's not going to win any games."

Lane?˜has been involved with international women's sevens since 2011, initially with Australia before?˜taking over from Gareth Gilbert as coach of the Dutch team after last year's World Cup. How has the game changed since he became involved?

"Women??s rugby sevens is unique. It's gone beyond being a contact sport ?? its now a collision sport, and we have to learn to win those collisions. Every tournament the standard increases and that is why we need to get back on the circuit because we have fallen behind by not being there. We need to play sides that are better than us ?? that is the only way to get better."

The Netherlands has a long history of women's rugby, but is still a small country with fewer than 800 registered adult women players. How can they get the best from the talent available in the squad and the country as a whole?

"We have a good development programme. We??ve identified some new girls from the clubs that we are going add to the programme, and there is some real potential coming through the U18 programme. We??ve got very good programmes and systems underneath this elite squad. And I want, over the next three or four months, to put pressure on this elite squad by accelerating the young girls development. We??ll bring the U18 into the training sessions with the elites and see how they handle it."

"We??ve put our U18 team into the adult competition here because that is what they need to do. They go away to France and so on and play in age group comps and they win ?? it??s too easy for them because no-one has the U18 programme that we have here. But they have to learn by playing stronger teams, and they have to learn what its like to lose. They need to experience what it is like."

"Girls play alongside boys right through the teenage years here. It's pretty much unique I think and it means that the best players get used to playing a higher standard of rugby, though on the downside we probably lose players once they get to 16 or 17 as boys get more physical as some girls get beaten up by stronger boys, which can be intimidating ?? but for the best players it's what they need, and if we want to be the best that is what the programme has to deliver."

Linda Franssen (c);?˜Lorraine Laros;?˜Pien Selbeck;?˜Anne Hielckert;?˜Annemarije van Rossum;?˜Joyce van Altena;?˜Kelly van Harskamp;?˜Jannicke IJdens;?˜Dorien Eppink;?˜Elke van Meer;?˜Tessa Veldhuis;?˜and?˜Tessel van Dongen.