For someone who only made his presence felt in the All Blacks Sevens in 2013, Kaka is coming to terms with assuming the mantle of a "seasoned campaigner" under 40-tournament veteran and skipper DJ Forbes.
A ring-barking test of the trunk of the Kiwis for depth reveals Forbes is on his own at one end of the scale with the likes of Scott Curry and Sherwin Stowers (about 25 tourneys) coming in at the next layer.
Kaka comes in at the next tier of experience (18-19 tourneys) but is crucial in his pivotal role with an eye to the Rio Olympics next year.
Yesterday Waikato's Tim Mikkelson was scratched from this weekend's campaign because of a groin injury.
Tietjens trumped for Murphy Taramai, of Wellington, resisting the temptation to call veterans such as Lote Raikabula and Cama.
The New Zealanders kick off at 2.08pm tomorrow against Canada before later meeting Papua New Guinea. They round out day one in Pool B with a clash against rivals England. Asked if the move to inject new blood was a tentative step in the right direction or perhaps some experience is required in helping a better balance, Kaka played the "yes and no" card.
"It's a tough call to make but bringing in youth is good. They don't know the fear of failing so they get out there to give it their best," Kaka eloquently put it, having no qualms in reciprocating after gleaning knowledge off Cama.
"It would also be nice to call on some experience during the tough situations."
Kaka was the third highest points scorer in his debut 2013 season, while last year's world sevens player of the year Mikkelson went on to be named in the HBSC "Dream Team".
The former Hawke's Bay Magpie, who gave up his ambition of scaling the heights in the XV format, found reinforcement from Tietjens that year when he picked Kaka as one of an unprecedented eight to be awarded fulltime sevens contracts in the vicinity of $70,000 to $120,000.
The outside back enjoys the sevens impromptu environment, where "everyone sings from the same song sheet", unlike in XV rugby where there's more time to dwell on mistakes on the field.
Packing explosive pace and a wicked sidestep, he is happy with his constitution and the training picture taken this week doesn't lie.
Kaka and his teammates took the plunge into a chilly Wellington Harbour on Tuesday, between training, which showed they also have the mental fortitude.
It's befitting that Kaka will take control at a venue this weekend where he made his sevens debut. While they have home-crowd advantage it isn't as parochial because the Pacific Island teams enjoy similar benefits in the capital.
"England go quite well here, too," he said, adding it was imperative to do well against them in the pool.
It was essential, he felt, for the Kiwis to make the final to ensure the crowd numbers bounce back to the bumper years.
The semifinals and place play-offs begin at 5.12pm on Saturday with the main final scheduled at at 8.55pm.
Kaka has bought a home in Havelock North, near where his parents, Mahe and Charlie, reside.
"It's just down the road from the Havelock North rugby club so I can just walk down to watch the club matches on Saturday," he said.
