April 10 - New Zealand sevens men's head coach Gordon Tietjens (pictured) will lead his country when rugby sevens features for the first time at the Rio 2016 Olympics after he signed a four-year contract extension with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU).

The 56-year-old is widely regarded as one of the best sevens coach of all time and since taking over as head coach of the New Zealand in 1994, he has led the Kiwis to nine world series titles and four successive Commonwealth Games gold medals.

He has also coached some of New Zealand's greatest ever rugby players including the likes of Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu, Joe Rokocoko, Mils Muliaina and Rico Gear.

But the former Bay of Plenty and Waikato player admitted that taking New Zealand to the Olympics at Rio 2016 will be the pinnacle of his glittering career.

"This is just a dream for me," said Tietjens, who was named NZRU Coach of the Year in 2010.

"I love coaching the New Zealand sevens team, it's a special team and I've worked with a lot of special players.

"The Olympics was a huge carrot for me in going on to coach the team.

"It's a special time for rugby to be involved in the Olympics and just to go there and be a part of that is a dream."

Tietjens admitted that he is likely to retire following Rio 2016 but said that there is a small chance he would stay on.

"You make a lot of sacrifices in the world of rugby," he said.

"Your family and your time.

"But it's a passion and something I really enjoy, I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't.

"Looking ahead I'd say I'll be very surprised if I went past the Olympics but then I never thought I'd be coaching now for the number of years I have been.

"It's the million-dollar question I suppose."

The extension will also see Tietjens work with New Zealand women's sevens head coach Sean Horan in the lead up to the Olympics after Horan was appointed to the newly created role earlier this year.

NZRU chief executive Steve Tew admitted that he was delighted to have secured the services of Tietjens for the 2016 Olympics as he believes the veteran coach can help steer New Zealand to gold.

"Signing Gordon for this extended period through to 2016 not only reflects the uniqueness of the Olympic Games but also his commitment to sevens rugby in New Zealand," said Tew.

"We've been really excited about what the Olympics means to sevens for a long time and we've got a very clear goal and that is to go to Rio and win two gold medals."

Tew also confirmed the NZRU would look to offer four or five players full-time sevens contracts from 2014.

"The extra tournaments that they've added to the series makes life a bit more complicated for guys that are trying to supplement their playing time and income with ITM Cup so that's a complication we're working through," he said.

-Tom Degun

Source: www.insidethegames.biz