The undisputed king of Sevens Rugby, Kiwi Gordon Tietjens, could be the most hated coach in New Zealand. The Sydney Morning Herald's Georgina Robinson reports.
"Notorious for punishing his players in training sessions more gruelling than any game they are likely to play, ''Titch'', as he is known, was called in ahead of the Rugby World Cup to help All Blacks selectors sort the wheat from the chaff.
''I had 17 or 18 that I worked with for a couple of two-hour training sessions,'' Tietjens said from the Gold Coast, where New Zealand are the favourites to win the first tournament in the HSBC Sevens World Series.
''Because the team hadn't been selected, it was for the All Blacks coaches to step back and watch me thrash them and by doing that they got a lot out of those training sessions under fatigue.
''Were their skills-sets up there? Were they fit enough? How accurate was their decision-making? All those questions were answered,'' he said."
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