Commonwealth Games: 'Titch' always looking to find extra edge for NZ sevens

Gordon Tietjens. Photo / Getty Images

Times have changed since Sir Gordon "Titch" Tietjens booked three motel rooms for his New Zealand sevens team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen and Bruce Reihana would all squeeze into the air-conditioned billets as Tietjens searched for a way to help his players recover more quickly than their opponents.

The facilities on offer in Glasgow mean Tietjens will not have to go to such lengths this weekend, but that is not to say the 58-year-old has lost any of his hunger as the All Black sevens bid for a fifth consecutive gold medal.

"The real memories of my first Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur are still sinking in," said Tietjens. "Back then New Zealand and Fiji were very much the leaders, now the game has evened up a hell of a lot.

"The heat in 1998 was incredible, so I found a motel down the road from the stadium and booked out three rooms, where we would go to cool down in between games. The only time we left them was to get out, warm up and play. You're always looking for that point of difference and that was ours back then."

His formula worked in Malaysia and it has since reaped rewards at the Games in Manchester, Melbourne and Delhi. Most coaches would go in search of a new challenge once they have won everything there is to win, but Tietjens still finds a drive to stick with the job he took up in 1994.

"I don't manage the same team because I lose players left, right and centre," he said. "I've got nine new players from the last Games and I'm continually scouting.

"With new players comes excitement and enthusiasm. My drive as a coach is to put those players in the All Blacks XVs jersey. I'm contracted through to Rio and next year is our most important year. We're looking ahead to the Olympics, and they're the challenges I enjoy."

DJ Forbes, Sherwin Stowers and Tim Mikkelson are the only players featuring at Ibrox that were involved in the 2010 Games. While the likes of South Africa and Scotland were all keen to bring in stars from the XVs game - Stuart Hogg, Schalk Brits and Bryan Habana all mentioned - Tietjens resisted the temptation to draft in players from Super Rugby.

His belief is that contracted sevens players will be more conditioned to the demands of the short-game and, with a proud unbeaten record to protect, the chief coach is not prepared to take the risk.

"When it comes to Olympic time, guys like Sonny Bill Williams have expressed an interest at making the team for Rio," said Tietjens. "They will have to play six World Series tournaments and prove they're good enough to be selected. You've got to be playing and training in this game to be good at it.

"We have a proud record in this competition. Is it a burden? No, but it adds a bit of pressure in the sense that we use it as a motivating factor. Four years ago in Delhi we were down by 11 points with three minutes to go, but we managed to turn it around. I asked the players afterwards what made the difference. What I was unaware of was that the players often talk about not wanting to be in that first All Blacks sevens team to lose at a Commonwealth Games."

New Zealand are hoping to continue their remarkable run this weekend and - just like in Kuala Lumpur - Tietjens is still searching for a way to give his side the edge. During the Glasgow leg of this year's IRB Sevens, New Zealand's coaches had a look over Ibrox Stadium. They found that the narrow football pitch would not suit the NZ speed merchants. The answer was simple: a polite word with the organisers was all it took and the pitch was made wider and longer.