Denmark national rugby union team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Denmark women's national rugby union team.

Denmark

Nickname	Danish Lions
Union	Dansk Rugby Union
Head coach	Andreas Robertson
Captain	Mikkel Andresen
First colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	71 (as of 17 January 2025)
Highest	71 (17 January 2025)
Lowest	77 (29 January 2024)
First international
Denmark 0 – 6 Sweden (1949-10-23)
Biggest win
Denmark 127 – 5 Estonia (2018-04-28)
Biggest defeat
Denmark 7 – 104 Russia (2000-05-13)

The Denmark national rugby union team is governed by Danish Rugby Union and has been playing international rugby since 1949.

DRU now has nearly 2,500 members in more than 30 clubs. ^[1]

The DRU Superliga is the highest tier of the national rugby union competition in Denmark. Most of the national team's players play in the local league, however a handful of them play in amateur clubs in England, Sweden and France. There are no professional players that play for Denmark.

The national side is ranked 71st in the world, as of 17th January 2025. ^[2]

The national side play in Rugby Europe's Conference division: https://www.rugbyeurope.eu/competitions/re-men-s-conference-2024-25 regularly playing sides like Finland and Norway.

History

Rugby Union had been played in Denmark since 1931, but the Danish Rugby Union (DRU) wasn't formed until 1950. The DRU joined the Sports Confederation of Denmark and Rugby Europe in 1971. In 1974, the DRU co-founded the Nordic Rugby Union (now Scandinavian Rugby Union), and in 1988, the DRU joined the International Rugby Board. ^[3]

The Danish First XV, known as Drusse, participates every year in the European Nation Tournament. In Europe, Denmark is ranked as a second-division side.

Championship tournaments determine seeding for World Cup qualifying pools. Denmark debuted in World Cup competition in October 1992, during qualification for the 1995 Rugby World Cup. They have never qualified for the World Cup, however.

Overall Record

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Denmark national XV at test level up until 24 May 2025, updated after match with   Moldova.

Against	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win percentage
Andorra	2	1	1	0	50%
Armenia	2	0	2	0	0%
Austria	6	5	1	0	83.33%
Belgium	5	1	3	1	20%
Bulgaria	1	0	1	0	0%
Croatia	5	0	4	1	0%
Czech Republic	2	0	2	0	0%
Estonia	2	2	0	0	100%
Finland	10	7	3	0	70%
Georgia	1	0	1	0	0%
Germany	9	1	8	0	11.11%
Hungary	4	3	1	0	75%
Israel	5	2	3	0	40%
Latvia	4	3	1	0	75%
Lithuania	2	2	0	0	100%
Luxembourg	5	2	3	0	40%
Malta	2	1	1	0	50%
Moldova	2	1	1	0	50%
Morocco	1	0	1	0	0%
Netherlands	10	0	9	1	0%
Norway	21	19	1	1	90.48%
Poland	3	0	3	0	0%
Portugal	2	0	2	0	0%
Russia	3	0	3	0	0%
Serbia	6	2	3	1	33.33%
Slovenia	6	2	4	0	33.33%
Spain	1	0	1	0	0%
Sweden	49	10	36	3	20.41%
Switzerland	10	5	3	2	50%
Ukraine	3	1	2	0	33.33%
West Germany	3	0	3	0	0%
Total	190	71	109	10	37.37%

Current squad

Starting line-up for the 2023-24 Rugby Europe Conference match against Finland.

• Caps & age not updated.
• Head coach: Andreas Robertson
• Managers: Palle Andersen & Ruben Garcia Pedersen
• Assistant coaches: Chris Adby & Rich Groom
• Head Physio: August Enevoldsen

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Bulela Butsheke	Prop		7	RK Speed
Marcus Borup	Hooker		2	Chelmsford R.F.C.
Zak Underwood	Prop		1	Hammersmith & Fulham RFC
Kenny Uddal Calmar	Lock		20	Aarhus RK
Hamish Coventry	Lock		6	Frederiksberg RK
Jeppe Maagaard Holm	Flanker		23	RK Speed
Marius Fricault	Flanker		2	RK Speed
Mikkel Andresen (c)	Number 8		19	Kenilworth RFC
Thorbjorn Vestergaard	Scrum-half		23	Aarhus RK
Oliver Hvass	Fly-half		4	RK Speed
Victor Hounou	Wing		5	RK Speed
Joshua Jensen	Centre		41	Swindon RFC
Simon Maagaard Holm	Centre		6	RK Speed
Rasmus Madum	Wing		7	Frederiksberg RK
Mads Søgaard Jørgensen	Fullback		2	RK Speed
Ali Kamil	Prop		3	RK Speed
Nicholas Bertelsen	Prop		1	RK Speed
Rasmus Brofeldt	??		1	RK Speed
Adam van Geyzel	??		1	Aarhus RK
Nils Hagen	??		1	Lugi Lions RFC
Axel Örn Petursson	Flanker		4	CSR-Nanok
Henry Miller	??		0	Frederiksberg RK
Otto Käszner	??		4	Frederiksberg RK

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad within the last 12 months.

Player	Pos	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club	Latest call-up
Emil Svinth Aagaard	Hooker			Frederiksberg RK	v. Andorra, 30 September 2023
Michael Friis Larsen	Prop			Aalborg RK	v. Andorra, 30 September 2023
Federico Haedo	Flanker			San Isidro Club	v. Andorra, 30 September 2023
Dan Wiggins	Scrum Half			Hitchin RFC	v. Andorra, 30 September 2023
Ben Wiggins	Fly Half			Hitchin RFC	v. Andorra, 30 September 2023
Gerard Hounou	Wing			RK Speed	v. Andorra, 30 September 2023
Alexandros Mintsioulis	Hooker			Frederiksberg RK	v. Andorra, 30 September 2023

References

1. "IRB Denmark". IRB.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-31. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
2. worldrugby.org. "Women's and Men's Rankings | World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
3. "DRU History". DRU. Retrieved 2010-04-28.

External links

• Danish Rugby Union – Official Site
• Denmark Archived 2016-08-09 at the Wayback Machine on rugbydata.com