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In the second part our our special Gordon Tietjens feature, ahead of Friday’s NZI Sevens, Robin Heymann speaks to the legendary Kiwi coach on the structures of the New Zealand game, his own personal future and the former player he admired the most.

According to Gordon Tietjens, Queenstown’s New Zealand Nationals tournament is still a superb platform for him to view players both in and on the periphery of his IRB Sevens squad.

The recent event in January saw the hugely experienced Tim Mikkelson impress scoring the winning try for Waikato, which was good enough for him to rejoin the squad. Other standouts were Nafi Tuitavake and Fritz Lee who will also feature at some point in Wellington and Vegas with the national side.

From a Sevens perspective the standard is immense and due to the lack of mainstream tournaments in New Zealand, is a key weekend in the diary.

“The Nationals provides me with an opportunity to uncover younger players by giving them some invaluable game time and see how they cope. Most of squad got to play in that particular tournament which was great and others really put their hand up,” says Tietjens.

With Sevens still very much a conveyor belt used for Super 14 and future All Blacks, the turnover of players can sometimes be high, with the eagle-eyed Tietjens always on the lookout for his next starlet.

The attitude towards Sevens from provinces can sometimes grate the coach though, with some aspiring prospects left out of the event and told to instead concentrate on their pre-season preparation for the 15s game.

It’s a problem which is also seen at England’s Middlesex Sevens with Guinness Premiership clubs wanting to keep certain players stuck in a gym instead out on a Sevens field.

School kids the future

Amongst a busy schedule of provincial rugby, Sevens, excluding Wellington, can sometimes be overlooked in New Zealand with Tietjens worried not enough numbers are participating in Sevens.

Last week saw the coach hold discussion with the NZRU about strategies that can be employed to better the production of players in Sevens, with one eye of course on Sevens’ Olympic debut in 2016.

“We need to work out strategies to help uncover new talent coming through. Particularly at schools, we need to look to put on a provincial schools event. The players who will play at 2016 will come from these schools so we need to try and uncover them early.”

Tietjens is convinced that more youngsters will be allured by the prospect of a bit of gold dangling around their necks and Secondary Schools are a major target.

Tietjens’ passion for the Olympics is obvious and he especially loves the feel of being immersed amongst other athletes at multi-sporting extravaganzas like the Commonwealth Games. But at 54-year of age will he still want to be involved in six years time?

“I’ve already been involved in three Commonwealth Games and been lucky to win three gold medals and would love to secure a fourth. But for me the Olympics is the ultimate goal.

“I still feel I’m young enough to coach and I will be around if they want me. I have just to re-evaluate and look at my future.”

The Olympic decision is just deserts for Tietjens, who has stuck through Sevens from the start and turned down lucrative offers to jump ship back to Sevens’ Big Brother, the 15-a-side game.

His drive, insight and passion have made him the target for the likes of China and Russia, who have already approached him looking at coaching opportunities, potentially on a part-time basis.

Both are developing rugby nations but are also Olympic powerhouses and would go to extreme lengths to get the right people in their set-up.

Tietjens’ reputation and kudos looks set to grow as 2016 nears, with more job enquiries bound to fly in. But would he jump ship?

With his contract up for renewal after this year’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi, there is always the possibility he might look for a new challenge, but you feel the thought of winning a gold for New Zealand will just too good to turn down.

No ‘Rush’ for replacement just yet

Anyway, think of the poor bloke who would have to potentially replace Tietjens?! They really would have their work cut to get close to the kind of success that he has already achieved.

It’s hard to pinpoint prospective candidates that might do the unthinkable and replace Tietjens but there is one name that naturally springs to mind. Although lacking the solo coaching calibre, Eric Rush is someone Tietjens respects and has enjoyed working with more than any other player thus far.

With Rush combining playing and assistant coaching duties at the end of his Sevens career the two have obviously formed a bond. Such is the iconic profile that ‘Rushie’ built up in Sevens he would potentially be a popular choice with a lot people.

“He was a tremendous leader and was outstanding. His work ethic while still playing for New Zealand at the age of 39, with all the fitness testing, says it all for me. He’s someone I have huge amount of respect for as we worked together for 12-13 years and enjoyed a great partnership.

“If he put his mind to it I definitely think he could coach. He’s got a couple of other business interests going on at the moment and when the time is right he could look to get properly into that side of the game,” added Tietjens.

This is all mere UR7s speculating though, for Sevens’ number one coach is not finished by any stretch of the imagination. His eye is still on multiple tournament wins, Series titles, with some Gold medals thrown in to boot. Titch’s hunger and appetite for more success is a frightening prospect for all those not with him in his corner.

'Mr Sevens' - UR7s exclusive with New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens - Part 1

UR7s Top 10 Tries from the 2009 NZI Sevens in Wellington

 UR7s' Robin Heymann will once again be providing Live Text Commentary throughout the NZI Sevens from Wellington's Westpac Stadium.