John Dawe: 'When they come out they come out in force'

The benefit of playing in front of a home crowd in Munich in World Rugby’s HSBC Challenger Series final round hasn’t been lost on German Sevens captain John Dawe.

Germany are bidding to make the final four of the HSBC Challenger Series, which would buy them a spot in the HSBC SVNS circuit promotion play-off next month in Madrid.

Going into the weekend Germany sit in fourth, but Hong Kong China are nipping at their heels as the battle to make the playoffs in the Bavarian capital.

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The Germans didn’t slip-up in their first game against Georgia, coming away 28-10 winners in front of a sold-out Dantestadion.

“The first game’s always hard to know what’s going to come but yeah, very happy for the boys,” Dawe told RugbyPass pitchside. “We started well and we were talking all week about starting this game strong, because in these sort of high-pressure tournaments, they can get away from you very quickly, so we’re very happy with the win.”

Dawe is refusing to look too far ahead, not least given Germany’s recent history of falling at the final hurdle in the shortened code.

“It’s a cliche isn’t it, but as soon as we start looking further ahead is when we start to mess up, so, we’re just taking it game by game and then from there we hope everything goes well for us and everything comes into line and we’re able to get into the top four this weekend.”

Helping Germany is a healthy and noisy home support in Munich.

“It’s a massive boost [the home crowd]. It’s amazing to have a home tournament. I know the unions worked really, really hard to get this going, so we’re really proud and we’re very excited to be here. The Germans are absolutely amazing. The population in the [German] rugby community is small, but when they come out they come out in force, and they really push us, which is amazing.

“Munich is quite a good hub now for rugby in Germany.”

Germany play PNG later this afternoon as they look to book their place in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.

“The next big one is Papua New Guinea. We’re going to rest up now and focus on recovery. A bit of switch off, see our family and friends and then focus hard on the next game, because as soon as we get two, we’re already through in the quarters, so that’s great for us.”