 Tietjens in Fiji | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Gordon Frederick Tietjens | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1955-12-09)9 December 1955 (age 69) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Rotorua, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sir Gordon Frederick TietjensKNZM (/ˈtɪtʃənz/; born 9 December 1955) is a celebrated former coach of theNew Zealand men's national team inrugby sevens, theAll Blacks Sevens. He spent 22 years in this role. He was also head coach of theSamoa rugby sevens team for four years.[2][3]
When theInternational Rugby Board inducted him into theIRB Hall of Fame in May 2012, it said that "Tietjens' roll of honour is without peer in Sevens, and perhaps in the game of rugby as a whole."[4] According toSpiro Zavos, Tietjens is "The greatest of all the Sevens coaches".[5]
As of his induction, he had coached the All Blacks Sevens to 10 series titles in theIRB Sevens World Series, theRugby World Cup Sevens crown in2001, and gold medals in four of the fiveCommonwealth Games in which the sport had been contested, losing the 2014 final inGlasgow.[4] He has also added two more IRB Sevens series titles (2013 and2014), and a second Rugby World Cup Sevens crown (also in2013).
Tietjens has coached many young players who have gone on to become All Blacks, including[citation needed]Christian Cullen,Jonah Lomu,Joe Rokocoko,Mils Muliaina,Rico Gear,Cory Jane,Ben Smith,Rieko Ioane,Israel Dagg, andLiam Messam.[6] Tietjens coached 44 players who went on to become All Blacks in the 15-a-side game and before his retirement, he was the only remaining active international coach from the amateur era.[7]
Tietjens is currently assisted byEric Rush, a former long-serving captain of the New Zealand Sevens team and a former Sevens star himself.
In 2012, his contract as the NZ Sevens coach was extended through to 2016.[8] This allows Tietjens to be part of Sevens rugby's first inclusion in theOlympic Games. According to then-World Rugby chairmanBernard Lapasset, sevens' inclusion in the Olympics was "in no small way down to Gordon Tietjens. Through his knowledge, passion, and expertise, he has driven the standards towards what we now celebrate as a truly global game of sevens."[7]
In the1999 New Year Honours, Tietjens was appointed aMember of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM);[9] in the2007 New Year Honours, he was elevated toCompanion of the same order (CNZM),[10] and in the2013 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was further promoted to aKnight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM).[11]
After an unsuccessful2016 Olympics campaign, Tietjens stepped down from the All Black Sevens coaching position.
In October 2016, Tietjens accepted the role of coach to theSamoa national sevens team.[12]In 2020, he announced that he would be stepping down from the head coaching role for theSamoa national sevens team stating that he wanted Samoa to be able to plan for the future.[13]
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