Sir Gordon maps way forward

Samoan coach Sir Gordon Tietjens begins to apply more pressure on his players to compete for positions for the upcoming 2017/18 World Sevens Series.

The man who masterminded New Zealand’s six year dominance of the World Sevens Series from its inception back in 1999 to 2005, made his intentions clear of what he wanted of his team leading in to the upcoming crucial sevens season.

Given that the 2008 season also included two major tournaments the Commonwealth Games and the Sevens Rugby World Cup, Tietjens and his men will be leaving no stones unturned in their quest for glory. “At the moment we are operating on two teams, there is no A or B teams. One went to the tournament in the USA and they performed particularly well which put pressure on these players to perform,” Sir Gordon said.

He said their plans of putting on more pressure for their players to compete for spots in the team had been going well and their players have responded well to it. Thus this has given their coaching panel a hard time in selecting their team for the first leg of the upcoming series.

“It is going to be a headache in selecting the right team for Dubai and South Africa.”

They’re aiming to build more depth in their squad, and Sir Gordon highlighted their final team would be a combination of players in the team they brought over for the Oceania Rugby Sevens Championship and those that played in the Silicon Valley 7s tournament.

“I believe we are going to put the strongest team together and they (the players) are putting pressure on each other which is pleasing,” he added.