Sir Gordon Tietjens believes the legacy left by past New Zealand Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning sevens sides could give his squad the winning edge in Glasgow.
He said fear of failure had proven a useful tool.
"It certainly means a lot, but I also understand that one day we could go to a Commonwealth Games and it might not work for us," Tietjens said yesterday.
"In Delhi, as an example, I think we were losing to Australia by six or seven points with a couple of minutes to go.
"What got the best out of [the players] was that they didn't want to be in the first losing side at a Commonwealth Games. So they all have something to aspire to."