Gordon Tietjens

Sir Gordon Tietjens
Tietjens in Fiji
Full name Gordon Frederick Tietjens
Date of birth (1955-12-09) 9 December 1955
Place of birth Rotorua, New Zealand
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Coach
Provincial/State sides
Years Club / team Caps (points)
1977–82
1983
1984–86		 Bay of Plenty
Waikato
Bay of Plenty[1]		 81
14
Sevens national teams
Years Club / team Comps
1983 New Zealand 1
Coaching career
Years Club / team
1994–2016
1996–2002		 New Zealand
Bay of Plenty

Sir Gordon Frederick Tietjens KNZM (born 9 December 1955) is a former coach of the New Zealand men's national team in rugby sevens, the All Blacks Sevens.[2] When the International Rugby Board inducted him into the IRB 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."[3] According to Spiro Zavos, Tietjens is "The greatest of all the Sevens coaches".[4] As of his induction, he had coached the All Blacks Sevens to 10 series titles in the IRB Sevens World Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens crown in 2001, and gold medals in four of the five Commonwealth Games in which the sport had been contested, losing the 2014 final in Glasgow.[3] He has also added two more IRB Sevens series titles (2013 and 2014), and a second Rugby World Cup Sevens crown (also in 2013).

Tietjens has coached many young players who have gone on to become All Blacks, including Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu, Joe Rokocoko, Mils Muliaina, Rico Gear, Cory Jane, Ben Smith, and Liam Messam.[5] As of June 2016, Tietjens has coached 44 players who have gone on to become All Blacks in the 15-a-side game and he is the only remaining active international coach from the amateur era.[6]

Tietjens is currently assisted by Eric 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.[7] This allows Tietjens to be part of Sevens rugby's first inclusion in the Olympic Games. According to then-World Rugby chairman Bernard 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."[6]

In the New Year Honours 1999, Tietjens was appointed a Member of The New Zealand Order of Merit,[8][9] in the New Year Honours 2007, he was elevated to Companion of the same order,[10] and in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2013, Tietjens was further promoted to a Knight Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit[11][12]

After an unsuccessful 2016 Olympics campaign, Tietjens stepped down from the coaching position.[13]

Achievements

References

  1. ↑ New Zealand Olympic Committee. "Gordon Tietjens". Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  2. ↑ New Zealand 7s Scrum.com news, 2 February 2010
  3. 1 2 "Gordon Tietjens inducted to IRB Hall of Fame" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 13 May 2012. Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  4. ↑ Spiro Zavos (30 Nov 2015). "SPIRO: Where is the ARU plan to win Sevens Olympic gold in Rio?". The Roar. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Lomu and Cullen requested for sevens duty Scrum.com news, 6 December 1999
  6. 1 2 Foster Niumata (25 May 2016). "The ruthless coach who helped sevens into Olympics". AP. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  7. 1 2 http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/6693267/Tietjens-to-coach-NZ-sevens-at-Rio-Olympics
  8. ↑ "New Year Honours 1999" (22 January 1999) 5 New Zealand Gazette 139.
  9. ↑ "Queen's Birthday Honours List 1999". Honours List. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet of New Zealand. 31 December 1998. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "Queen's Birthday Honours List 2007". Honours List. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet of New Zealand. 31 December 2006. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  11. ↑ "The Queen's Birthday Honours 2013" (24 June 2013) 80 New Zealand Gazette 2171.
  12. ↑ "Queen's Birthday Honours List 2013". Honours List. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet of New Zealand. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  13. ↑ http://www.allblacks.com/News/29725/sir-gordon-tietjens-steps-down-as-sevens-coach
  14. ↑ Archived 2 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
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