Gordon Tietjens

Gordon Tietjens

KNZM

Tietjens in Fiji
Birth name	Gordon Frederick Tietjens
Date of birth	(1955-12-09) 9 December 1955 (age 68)
Place of birth	Rotorua, New Zealand
Height	Unknown
Rugby union career
Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1977–1982 Bay of Plenty 81 () 1983 Waikato 14 () 1984–1986 Bay of Plenty[1] () National sevens team Years Team Comps 1983 New Zealand Sevens 1 Coaching career Years Team 1994–2016 New Zealand Sevens 1996–2002 Bay of Plenty 2016–2020 Samoa national sevens team

Sir Gordon Frederick Tietjens KNZM (/ˈtɪtʃənz/; born 9 December 1955) is head coach of the Samoa rugby sevens team, and a celebrated 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).