Related News
Tietjens retires after 22 years as NZ sevens coach
Print Edition
GORDON Tietjens is retiring as New Zealand’s rugby sevens coach after 22 years during which he played a major role in the development of a sport which made its Olympics debut this year.
The 60-year-old Tietjens told a news conference in Wellington yesterday it was time for someone with new ideas to take charge of the New Zealand team.
His retirement follows New Zealand’s unsuccessful campaign at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. New Zealand was widely considered as a strong medal chance but lost its opening match to Japan before being eliminated by gold medalist Fiji in the quarterfinals.
While New Zealand, under Tietjens, has won the Sevens World Series 12 times since its inception in 1999, it has not won the title for the past two years.
Tietjens also coached New Zealand to four Commonwealth Games gold medals and is credited with spotting and developing a number of top players, including All Blacks greats Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen.
He received a New Zealand knighthood for his services to rugby in 2013 and was the first sevens coach to be inducted into the International Rugby Board’s hall of fame.
But he struggled to maintain his record of success in recent seasons as international sevens became more competitive. Fiji focused its resources on the sevens program, aiming for its first Olympic medal, under English coach Ben Ryan.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
