Gordon Tietjens Picks his Fantasy Rugby Sevens Team

Gordon Tietjens, widely regarded as the greatest rugby sevens coach of all time, and certainly the most successful, chooses his fantasy rugby sevens team in this video by Inside Sevens. His team includes rugby union greats Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen. He describes Lomu as having the ability to play as a forward and a winger with outstanding power, and Cullen as having phenomenal pace and fitness levels. ‘Titch’ also selects sevens exponents Karl Te Nana, three time gold medal winner Amasio Valence, Dallas Seymore and current New Zealand captain DJ Forbes. Former New Zealand captains and part-time All Blacks Eric Rush and Liam Messam also make the cut. That makes eight players, but who are we to argue with the sevens rugby maestro.

He says the most important aspect of coaching a team of phenomenal players is making them gel as a team and that it’s not about just one or two players, but the whole 12 players in the squad. He also said that it was important to come up with a game plan to suit those players and then go out there and execute it.

Gordon Tietjens has coached the New Zealand Rugby Sevens team to four Commonwealth Games gold medals, eight IRB Sevens World Series championships and a Rugby World Cup Sevens title. In that time he has coached over 35 players who have gone on to play for the All Blacks.

Gordon Tietjens’ Fantasy Rugby Sevens Team:

Jonah Lomu
Christian Cullen
Karl Te Nana
Amasio Valence
Eric Rush
Dallas Seymore
Liam Messam
DJ Forbes

In the video Tietjens also highlights some of the outstanding sevens players from overseas. His favourite overseas players include:
Marika Vunibaka (Fiji)
Waisale Serevi (Fiji)
Uale Mai (Samoa)
Brian Lima (Samoa)
Alafoti Fa’osiliva (Samoa)
Henry Paul (England)
Ben Gollings (England)
Santiago Gomez (Argentina)
Humphrey Kayange (Kenya)
Lee Williams (Wales)
Andre Venter (South Africa)
Kamamba Floors (South Africa)