But on top of their scrambling and superb effort in the tackling department, New Zealand used the conditions to their advantage throughout the weekend.
Regular driving rain in Wellington provided a slippery surface and New Zealand kicked the ball on attack through the likes of Tim Mikkelson and Gillies Kaka in a bid to turn their opponents around.
Tietjens acknowledged it wasn't a tactic they usually employed but it paid off in fine fashion.
"Obviously we've really worked on our defence. Defence wins tournaments, there's no question about that but we've been playing some smart footy in these conditions at the same time and that's a real key. We are not a team that ever kicks, but when you're going to put a lot of pressure on, we can bring our defensive line up and put them under a lot of pressure and get turnovers.''
Tietjens has spoken recently of trying to bring more youngsters through to his squad and the likes of Ambrose Curtis and Akira Ioane showed plenty of promise when they got their brief chances.
"The sad thing is I would have loved to have given them more game-time but their time will come. But it was great to have them coming off the bench.''
Ben Lam and Sherwin Stowers were busy in the backline throughout the tournament for New Zealand and Lam used his size to his advantage as he carried the ball strongly.
Stowers reaped the rewards of the platform laid by the likes of forwards Bryce Heem and DJ Forbes as he ran in a tournament-best eight tries.
Workaholic forward Scott Curry also enjoyed a prosperous tournament as he dotted down four times and was prominent throughout.
New Zealand's win over South Africa in the final also broke a drought against their biggest rivals on the international circuit after they had lost the finals of the past two tournaments to Blitzbokke.
Tietjens' side also leapfrogged South Africa back to the top of the world series standings after five rounds.
"We've had a bit of a bad run but they're a good side,'' Tietjens said. "We've moved two points ahead and are back in front but there's still four tournaments to go but it's anyone's race, really and Fiji are not out of the equation either. So it's going to still be tough and they'll come back strong but that's how close it is and I think that's what the people come here to see, the excitment and that's what they got.''
In the battle of the beaten semifinalists, Fiji claimed third place with a 14-7 win over England in the second-to-last game of the tournament.
In the minor results, Australia pipped Canada 12-10 in the plate final, Kenya picked up the bowl with a 24-14 win over Scotland and the United States beat Spain 28-12 to claim the shield.
The world series now takes a six-week break before making its next stop in Tokyo from March 22-23.
From there, the players head to Hong Kong from March 28-30 before the circuit finishes with tournaments in Scotland and England in the first two weeks of May.
