Dan leading Latvia’s charge for Olympics
FORMER England wing Dan Scarbrough has been appointed head coach of Latvia’s national Sevens team with qualification for the 2020 Olympics the ultimate goal.
Scarbrough’s first task though is to make the side a competitive force in Rugby Europe’s Trophy competition before pushing for promotion to the more prestigious Grand Prix Sevens Series in year two.
“They are looking to get back in the Grand Prix, the first leg of the Trophy takes place this weekend in Croatia and then we’re heading to Lithuania at the end of June,” said Scarbrough, whose full-time job is rugby programmes manager at Queen Ethelburga’s College, near York.
“I’ve been aware of Latvia for a while as there’s a Latvia contingent living in Bradford.
“I play and do a bit of coaching at Bradford Salem (in Yorkshire 1) and a couple of the lads there – Gundars Grekis and Martins Bokis – play for the team and they told me Latvia were advertising for a new head coach. So I had a look at it, put my CV in and after a couple of meetings I said I’d be very interested in helping out.
“I’ve been doing my Level 3 coaching qualification this year and I’d been looking to do things that would fit in around my commitments at school, in order to broaden my experience in rugby and coaching so I’m excited to get the opportunity to coach at international level.”
The 40-year-old added: “With Latvia being a tier three rugby nation, they have limited resources and limited players, and it is a difficult environment to really grow their sport. But there are some passionate people here, particularly a businessman called Janis Zuments, who is very active in Latvian rugby.
“He is the chairman and the main man at one of the big clubs, Livonia, and is trying to freshen things up and bring in some new blood and push the sport forward.” Scarbrough, who won two caps at 15s, below, and was a member of the England Sevens side that lifted the Hong Kong trophy in 2004, is still finding his feet after only a week in the job. “It is producing a lot of challenges, I am still learning about the country, the clubs and the politics,” he said. “For example, this weekend one of the big clubs, Miesnieki, have a tournament in Amsterdam so all their players are unavailable for selection for Zagreb,” the former Leeds, Saracens and Racing 92 wing explained.
The English influence within Latvian rugby extends beyond Scarbrough and his Bradford Salem team-mates with National Two North outfit Wharfedale providing three players to the cause in the Davidson brothers, Tom and Robbie, and Tom Asejevs.
Meanwhile, Yorkshire Carnegie’s new scrum-half signing, JP Bruzulier, has Latvian roots and Scarbrough has spoken to the Welshman about coming on board.
“The Union keep talking about a push for the Olympics in two years’ time.
“That is ambitious but something we could potentially look at if, in the short term, we can bring in some experienced guys with Latvian blood from around the world to complement the local talent we have here and help take us up a level.”