Sir Gordon Tietjens has finally called stumps as coach of the New Zealand Sevens team, after an unprecedented 22 years behind the reins. During his time as coach, Sir Gordon led the side to four Commonwealth gold medals, two Rugby World Cup Sevens titles and 12 World Rugby Sevens Series wins.
The decision was announced by Sir Gordon at a press conference early last week, alongside NZRU chief executive Steve Tew. Steve Tew, speaking at the press conference, acknowledged Sir Gordon’s impeccable record, stating, “I think it is fair to say, no one else will ever rival this record in world rugby in any form of the game… His tenure itself is quite hard to comprehend, but the results inside that period itself are huge.”
Tew also credited Sir Gordon with growing not only the All Blacks brand internationally, but the New Zealand brand, explaining that “he opened up international markets that just weren’t feasible for the 15 a side game.”
Tietjens insisted that it was time for a changing of the guard, and for new, fresh ideas to be brought in, looking ahead to Tokyo in 2020.
Tietjens has been instrumental in the development of some of this country's most famous All Blacks, with names such as Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen, Cory Jane and Ben Smith all coming out of the sevens production line. As it stands now, Tietjens has coached a total of 44 players in the sevens circuit who had gone on to represent New Zealand in the 15 a side format.
In the New Year's 1999, Tietjens was appointed a Member of The New Zealand Order of Merit, in the New Year Honours 2007, he was elevated to Companion of the same order, and in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2013, Tietjens was further promoted to a Knight Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit.
The hard and arduous task of selecting a coach will be next on the list as the team looks forward from Rio. Many names have been put forwards as suggestions to step in and fill the large boots of Tietjens. Among them are Ben Ryan, former England coach and current coach of the Fijian olympic gold winning team, Eric Rush, the former superstar of Sir Gordons early teams or even Dj Forbes, current member and former captain. However, Sir Gordon is still keen to be involved “in some capacity’’ reinforcing the fact that at all times he was simply “a phone call away.”