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Exclusive: Kiwi Sevens legend Sir Gordon Tietjens reveals he'll retire after Tokyo Olympics – 'That would be my swansong'

July 20, 2018

Tietjen’s said the game has been good to him, but he knows it’s time to let go.

Sir Gordon Tietjens has confirmed he's in the last stages of his sevens coaching career.

The legendary Kiwi coach will guide Samoa in what will be his last World Cup in charge of a side and admits he isn’t looking much further.

Sir Gordon told 1 NEWS he will definitely end his association with the sport after the 2020 Olympics.

"That would be my last swansong, that's for sure," he said.

"But it's a great game, it's been good to me over the years."

Sir Gordon joined the Pacific side after the greatest sevens tenure in history with New Zealand where he guided them to 12 World Series titles and four Commonwealth Games gold medals.

While results on the field with Samoa haven't been the same Sir Gordon has still managed significant strides, including getting players contracted.

"Contracting the players has been a real positive in the sense that we retain the players, we just won't lose them overnight, which has happened in the past," he said.

One of those players, Neria Fomai, says he’s benefited from working with Kiwi coach.

"It's been good, especially for us islander boys, we sort of take shortcuts at times, but he makes sure none of us do that at training."

Sir Gordon’s squad got one last intense training in in California today before their World Cup campaign kicks off in San Francisco tomorrow.

They begin with a knockout game at 9:30am NZT against Uganda in the round of 32.

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