Richard Naylor, president of Dansk Rugby League Forbund, has called upon his countrymen to match the domestic progress being made in their Scandinavian neighbours if they are to remain successful, the Danes having retained the Nordic Cup after victory over Norway.

This year’s Nordic cup matches are the first to be played under formal Test status, Denmark following up their 30-16 win in Sweden with a 24-12 home success over Norway in Roskilde, thereby becoming the first nation to achieve back-to-back titles.

“This was another genuine test match for us,” said Naylor, who played stand off in the victory.

“It was a really tough game played at a fast pace. Norway were well drilled and we had to dig deep and rely on a few outstanding individual performances. We are really proud to have won back to back Nordic Cups, but we can see that both Norway and Sweden are well ahead of us in terms of developing their own domestic talent.”

Naylor added, “We are going to have to address this if we want to enjoy more success in the future.”