Gordon Tietjens steps down
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It's interesting surmising what gameplan a new coach will bring. Titch believed that Rio would suit bigger, powerful players who could dominate the contact and breakdown. Ryan implemented a gameplan that had the Fijians eschew the breakdown and rely on their natural ability to keep the ball alive.
New Zealand is still missing some gas too.
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@antipodean said in Gordon Tietjens steps down:
It's interesting surmising what gameplan a new coach will bring. Titch believed that Rio would suit bigger, powerful players who could dominate the contact and breakdown. Ryan implemented a gameplan that had the Fijians eschew the breakdown and rely on their natural ability to keep the ball alive.
New Zealand is still missing some gas too.
surely that is the first job? Find some players with pace. Or build them. But we've been down on speed compared to our main competitors for a while haven't we?
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@mariner4life said in Gordon Tietjens steps down:
@antipodean said in Gordon Tietjens steps down:
It's interesting surmising what gameplan a new coach will bring. Titch believed that Rio would suit bigger, powerful players who could dominate the contact and breakdown. Ryan implemented a gameplan that had the Fijians eschew the breakdown and rely on their natural ability to keep the ball alive.
New Zealand is still missing some gas too.
surely that is the first job? Find some players with pace. Or build them. But we've been down on speed compared to our main competitors for a while haven't we?
We haven't had genuine pace probably since that O'Donnell boy first came on to the scene. But he was unable to maintain it for a variety of reasons.
We've looked a little stale for probably 2 years. We've been able to get the odd tournament result but it's seems Titch was unsuccessful in finding that right gameplan to mix structure and flair with the cattle he selected.
Fantastic coaching career and amazing work ethic to keep it going at the highest level for so long.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Gordon Tietjens steps down:
@mariner4life said in Gordon Tietjens steps down:
@antipodean said in Gordon Tietjens steps down:
It's interesting surmising what gameplan a new coach will bring. Titch believed that Rio would suit bigger, powerful players who could dominate the contact and breakdown. Ryan implemented a gameplan that had the Fijians eschew the breakdown and rely on their natural ability to keep the ball alive.
New Zealand is still missing some gas too.
surely that is the first job? Find some players with pace. Or build them. But we've been down on speed compared to our main competitors for a while haven't we?
We haven't had genuine pace probably since that O'Donnell boy first came on to the scene. But he was unable to maintain it for a variety of reasons.
We've looked a little stale for probably 2 years. We've been able to get the odd tournament result but it's seems Titch was unsuccessful in finding that right gameplan to mix structure and flair with the cattle he selected.
Fantastic coaching career and amazing work ethic to keep it going at the highest level for so long.
Didn't we have Stowers, O'Donnell and Lam for a bit when they were all pretty quick? But somehow they didn't all maintain the standards all the way through.
I think Titch's gameplan this year was due to the fact that we don't have express pace and we weren't going to magically find it before the Qlympics. I guess our quick guys in NZ focus on 15 speed rather than 7s speed.
I don't know if any coach of NZ could have come up with a plan that would have won the Olympics given the cattle available.
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we've never had many express pace merchants though.
Always just big fast dudes (Lam in that category)
Someone like BB woulda been awesome, but, in choosing not to play 7s', look at what he has achieved this year!
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I'm not sure it was all down to pace. (and it goes without saying that Sevens is a pretty even place these days, the games are short, the referees have a huge influence on the game, and there is no magic formula to win every Sevens tournament).
Reckon they never replaced Tomasi Cama as the playmaker. We seemed to lack deception in the last couple of years - the ability to break a defence open with just a shrug and a step.
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Toni Pulu would've been a good signing, he's got plenty of pace, though he's already played Sevens for Niue, so they would've had plan the nationality switch out in advance. Bred Weber's another with some real pace.
TBH though, I think we're overstating the importance of pace. I felt like the team was a bit of a mess this year, with way too many players going in and out of the team. A lot of those couldn't be avoided with all the injuries but the plan with the Super players seemed to be a complete failure, which showed that Titch was right to reject guys like Ben Smith who just wanted to jump into the squad at the business end. If they're going to do something similar in Tokyo (or the next Commonwealth Games), I think they need to keep the Super players involved all season, maybe playing every second tournament or something, rather than just at the start and end of season.
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I think part of the disappointing results is the number and severity of injuries as well. This year was extreme, but there were also many injuries in previous years. I wonder whether the training regime had anything to do with that. At some tournaments, the players looked already tired at the first day and mentally "not quite there". That could be a sign of being overtrained.
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When I think of the speedsters we've had in the sevens in the past the names Vidiri, Randle, Fleming etc come to mind. None of the players we've used in the last 5 yrs are in that class. Then we had the x-factor players, e.g. Lomu, Cullen, who gave the team an extra edge.
Sure injuries have played a part but it seems that Titch never really settled on the tactics to get the best out of the players he had at his disposal. Perhaps the "success" in Wellington and Sydney gave everybody a false sense of the strength of the team, and they hoped to be able to flick the switch and replicate that style in Rio. Unfortunately the x-factor players like the Ioane bros failed to deliver in Rio, and other injury-prone players got injured again.
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@Nepia said in Gordon Tietjens steps down:
@ACT-Crusader said in Gordon Tietjens steps down:
@mariner4life said in Gordon Tietjens steps down:
@antipodean said in Gordon Tietjens steps down:
It's interesting surmising what gameplan a new coach will bring. Titch believed that Rio would suit bigger, powerful players who could dominate the contact and breakdown. Ryan implemented a gameplan that had the Fijians eschew the breakdown and rely on their natural ability to keep the ball alive.
New Zealand is still missing some gas too.
surely that is the first job? Find some players with pace. Or build them. But we've been down on speed compared to our main competitors for a while haven't we?
We haven't had genuine pace probably since that O'Donnell boy first came on to the scene. But he was unable to maintain it for a variety of reasons.
We've looked a little stale for probably 2 years. We've been able to get the odd tournament result but it's seems Titch was unsuccessful in finding that right gameplan to mix structure and flair with the cattle he selected.
Fantastic coaching career and amazing work ethic to keep it going at the highest level for so long.
Didn't we have Stowers, O'Donnell and Lam for a bit when they were all pretty quick? But somehow they didn't all maintain the standards all the way through.
I think Titch's gameplan this year was due to the fact that we don't have express pace and we weren't going to magically find it before the Qlympics. I guess our quick guys in NZ focus on 15 speed rather than 7s speed.
I don't know if any coach of NZ could have come up with a plan that would have won the Olympics given the cattle available.
Better playmaking would've helped considerably.
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Many have said it before, I think we need to manage 7's independently of 15's. It sends the wrong message to players looking at or playing circuit 7's to have super rugby players come in, and none of them made an impact anyway. In many ways touch is a better fit skills wise. There must be players in NZ that have the skills and creativity we need
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Just listened to Tietjens on the TV news tonight. His comments highlight the problem sevens has competing with XVs. He identified 3 players from the U19 tournament that he wanted in the sevens programme and the players wanted to be involved. But those players were selected by Super teams/WTGs so weren't available. No mention of the names but it would be easy enough to work out.
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I'm a bit of a fair weather Sevens fan but in my less than expert view it seems the rest of the world moved on but NZ didn't ?
22 years is a hell of an effort but no one can maintain such excellence for that long. It was a bit simplistic for talkback morons to say Beauden Barrett, Ardie Savea etc should have been "made" to play Sevens for the chance at an Olympic Medal. They didn't want to jeopardise their AB careers even for part of a year and in the case of those two have achieved great things in the longer form of the game.
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Yup, BB has had a breakout season that he would not have had if he went to the 7s. I am very pleased he chose the ABs, we have our starting 10 for the next 5 odd years now.
Same goes for Ardie (not on the breakout season part) but having him in the AB camp has been invaluable to his development.
Don't get me wrong, I wanted to win the 7s medal. But I want the ABs to win way way more.
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@No-Quarter said in Gordon Tietjens steps down:
Yup, BB has had a breakout season that he would not have had if he went to the 7s. I am very pleased he chose the ABs, we have our starting 10 for the next 5 odd years now.
Same goes for Ardie (not on the breakout season part) but having him in the AB camp has been invaluable to his development.
Don't get me wrong, I wanted to win the 7s medal. But I want the ABs to win way way more.
Exactly, People were saying that they should have has a "Super" team that should have been training the moment the ABs won the Cup and that, other than the guys I mentioned the likes of Read, Smith x 2, Messam etc should have been picked. Messam had a crack and good on him but the others chose the ABs and they're totally entitled to do that. If Read for example hadn't he might have become a modern day Mike Brewer cos his captaincy position could have been usurped and he mighten't have got it back.
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There has been quite a bit of speculation since Titch stepped down about who would be the next men's sevens coach.
Names that have been thrown around are Eric Rush, Karl Tenana, Scott Waldrom and women's sevens coach Sean Horan.
Sean Horan has now stepped down as the women's coach ...**Sean Horan steps away from Black Ferns Sevens role** ALLBLACKS.COM 14 SEP 2016 SEAN HORAN *Black Ferns Sevens coach Sean Horan is stepping down from coaching the Black Ferns Sevens following New Zealand’s silver medal success at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero.* Horan has coached the team for nearly five years and said now was the right time to look for a fresh challenge. “I’m immensely proud of the team, the players and the management,” he said. “It’s been a huge privilege to have been part of this amazing ride.” Under Horan, New Zealand has won three out of the first four Women’s Sevens Series titles, and finished second in the fourth season of the new look series this year. The team are also the reigning World Champions after winning Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow in 2013 and won the silver medal in Rio last month, losing to Australia in the final. Horan came to the role when New Zealand Rugby launched the Go4Gold programme which aimed to attract women from all sports in order to build a strong national sevens team. “We fell short of our goal in Rio, but we shouldn’t lose sight of what we’ve achieved. We’ve built a strong platform for the future and that’s a credit to the hard work our players and management have put in over the years. "Our vision was always to inspire young women to wear the black jersey and be very proud and I think we did that. The game now is huge. There are many clear pathways for young women to embrace sevens and aspire to wear the black jersey. “It’s hugely satisfying to have been part of this great adventure right from the beginning,” he said. “We started with a blank canvas and built a great team in a short period of time. I leave knowing my successor will come to the job with a strong high performance programme established. “We’ve nailed much over the past five years. I really hope what this team has done inspires a new generation of players who see sevens as an exciting option.” The former Bay of Plenty Steamers coach said he would now take a break from the game and consider some options. “I love rugby and fully intend to keep involved in some shape or form, but now’s the right time for someone else to take up the sevens reins and build on the strong foundation the team’s created.” New Zealand Rugby will shortly advertise for the new Black Ferns Sevens coach. The four-year appointment will be through to the next Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.
