Gordon Tietjens reflects on 11th series win

Gordon Tietjens reflects on 11th series win

"I've always said that you can win the World Series without winning a tournament, that it's about being consistent," said Tietjens, whose side won two Cup titles in the 2012/13 season, in South Africa and London. "We made every single semi-final this year, which is great, and as a side we see every game we play as a final, and that's been the key.

"It's been a great season for us in terms of consistency, but also in the sense that we've brought on so many young players. So to have been in six of the first eight finals to tie up the Series with an event go to was an excellent result for us."

After winning the London final against Australia to cap a victorious season in style, Tietjens also spoke about the 'special culture' in the side - the trust and expectation that each of his players has for each other.

"They're very close. We had three days off in the week (leading up to London) because they worked so hard back in New Zealand, and that's when you do get rewards for all that hard work."

Now he will be hoping that the same work can pay off at the sixth Rugby World Cup Sevens, in Moscow on 28-30 June.

"It's a confidence boost heading into the World Cup for sure, but it's always one tournament at a time for us, one game at a time," added Tietjens, who has won one World Cup in Sevens, in Mar del Plata back in 2001. "That's going to be totally different and might be a totally different team, but these guys have put their hands up and told the coach they want to go to Moscow, so I've got a few problems ahead of me."

Tietjens on the HSBC Sevens World Series 2012/13

Round 1 - Gold Coast, Cup runners-up, lost to Fiji
"That first tournament's always a challenge, bringing in so many new, young players and out of that tournament we got Belgium Tuatagaloa, who well for us throughout the season, so a great challenge and a great result for us in some ways."

Round 2 - Dubai, Cup runners-up, lost to Samoa
"Kurt Baker returned to play for us in Dubai and he's a prolific try-scorer, but we lost to Samoa. Samoa seem to lift themselves every time we play them there. It's a great tournament for us to win because we get so much support but it wasn't to be. But again, it put us in a pretty good position in the standings. "

Round 3 - Port Elizabeth, Cup champions beat South Africa
"South Africa's a great place for us to play, I think we've won the last four tournaments there in a row. Great support for us, a great place to play rugby and also a good place to win just before we go back home for Christmas. We played the French in the final and Tim Mikkelson made a great try and was outstanding there, as he has been all season. Our performances throughout were tremendous."

Round 4 - Wellington, Cup semi finalists, lost to Kenya
"There's always pressure to win your own tournament with 35,000 people screaming for you and we started slowly on day one. We played well to beat Australia in the quarter final, but then we met our match against a very good Kenyan side in extra time in the semi. But we went on to beat Samoa for third place with a lot of new, young players."

Round 5 - Las Vegas, Cup runners-up, lost to South Africa
"The Vegas tournament is always a challenge because you're playing on a smaller pitch in terms of the width, and for us coaches it's a real challenge in terms of which players you select and utilise. We played well in the semi final (against Fiji) and went to final and lost to a very good South African side that played particularly well. A top result for us in terms of finishing runner-up, but that elusive win is what you're looking for."

Round 6 - Hong Kong, Cup semi-finalists, lost to Fiji
"Hong Kong's always the big tournament for us, for every team, and to be beaten by Fiji in the semi final was disappointing because over the years it's generally been Fiji and New Zealand in various finals. They seemed to lift themselves, as they always do in Hong Kong, and they played well."

Round 7 - Tokyo, Cup runners-up, lost to South Africa
"To get to the final was great, coming off the loss in Hong Kong, and there was an opportunity there but South Africa again lifted themselves and played particularly well. But again it's that consistency and for us to be there or thereabouts was brilliant."

Round 8 - Glasgow, Cup runners-up, lost to South Africa
"We started really well in pool play to beat England 31-5 and then convincingly topped the group, but we lost two key players to injury (Scott Curry and Ben Lam) and that came back to haunt us. But again South Africa played well to beat us. "

Round 9 - London, Cup Champions, beat Australia
"It was a great way to finish the Series in London. Beating Australia in the final was an awesome performance. I'm proud because we've done it with a lot of players out. A lot of youngsters have come up and put their hands up and that's pleasing. To finish the season in style with that try and all the youngsters on the field having a crack said it all."

ka pai tiejens, meke effort to get a podium finish in every tournament during the 2012/2013 world sereis, unheard of and really amazing, even for a 7s heavyweight team like NZ.
i just found out that NZ played the second most new players during the sereis, behind fiji, thats great news for our rio preperations and also for the 7sWC coming up.
hopefully ben lam and forbes are both ready for the 7sWC, especially lam, as his go forward and ability to offload was sorely missed.

i loved tiejens mini review of every game too, of all the tournaments, the ones i really wanted to win was the NZ 7s and the creme de la crem of 7s, the hong kong 7s. IMO hong kong is the mecca of 7s rugby, odd considering how much of rugby powerhouse they arent on any type of rugby, lolz.

but to seal our 11th title with a nice win is the best way to go out and best rpep for the 7sWC, so thanks again tiejens and the NZ 7s team for another great trophy, :o)

 Out of the young players the Blitzbokke introduced, 2 of them probably won't stick to sevens, Geduld and Senatla. But the good thing is that we beat the Kiwi's in every final we played against them, an Omen for you Kiwi's for what's to come in the WC?

@shezza,

for nearly every player bar a few, sevens is merely a stepping stool for the spXV where theres more money and fame, the exceptions to the rules are players like dj forbes, tomasi cama and cecil afrika. the rest im sure if they were given opprtunities in their respective rugby premiere league would take it.
ben lam wouldnt eve be playing if kirwan hadnt come him from the blues when he came in rang the changes, same with stowers, and when the crusaders had their injury problems, kurt baker was the one they called on for cover.

as for the blitzboks, they have been a real thorn in our side, but if hong kong, dubai, NZ or even the latest london sevens was anything to go by, then blitzbok wont even be in the finals, :oP
hong kong was a shocker though, SA didnt even get plast the bowl semi finals, and the bowl is thrid behind the plate and cup, wowsers i have to give two emoticons for that, o_O O_o

for some reason im very confident that NZ will win the 7sWC but hopefully i didnt jinx them as they have struggled their many times in the past.
if lam, kaka & mickleson are playing, then no worries, those three are the best 7s players in the comp easy IMO.