KEY POINTS:
First things first. Gordon Tietjens is adamant - he will not immediately return to 15-a-side rugby.
Tietjens, who is synonymous with sevens, has been touted as a prospective North Harbour coach as rumours swirl that Allan Pollock's second term might be at an end.
Tietjens has a New
Zealand Rugby Union sevens contract until September next year, and said he would continue to concentrate on that.
"Then I might return to 15s or I might not," says Tietjens, the former Bay of Plenty coach and player, who was named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. He was made a Member of the Order in 1999.
His story is a classic case of turning a sideline into a major career. Sevens may not even hold the recognition it does but for his 12-year stint as national coach.
At times it has been a tough game, keeping sevens to the fore despite the competing interests of 15-a-side teams. It is a chequered journey in this regard, and it has become increasingly difficult to secure top players.
Yet in other instances, reluctant recruits such as Anthony Tuitavake - who initially shied away from the infamously tough Tietjens practice sessions - have had their 15-a-side ambitions reignited by the sevens experience.
In part, Tietjens has held the ground for sevens by developing talent for the 15-a-side game that might otherwise have been overlooked.
Most importantly, he has kept sevens to the fore by winning. His haul includes all three Commonwealth Games gold medals, and New Zealand has often been top dog internationally.
Tietjens was humbled by his second recognition in the New Year's honours list.
"It means just as much as the first," he said from his Tauranga home.
Success would not have been possible, he said, without the support of his wife Glenys, his family, and those in and around the sevens team and the New Zealand Rugby Union.
Tietjens' first taste of sevens came as a player for London Welsh in the late 1970s, and he played in the first full New Zealand team to compete at Hong Kong in 1983. In 1992, he guided Bay of Plenty to the world's oldest sevens title at Melrose in Scotland, and then coached New Zealand B (the innovative Peter Thorburn was the A team coach).
Extreme fitness has been the hallmark of Tietjens' sevens teams, though strength has become an increasingly important part as tactics changed.
As for his favourite sevens player, Eric Rush is - as expected - his first choice.
But Tietjens says a fit Amasio Valence was the best in the world.
