Former New Zealand sevens coach Sir Gordon Tietjens his hit out at New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and the All Blacks coaching staff, expressing his frustration over the selection process of the 2016 Olympic side.
Tietjens' side missed out on the medals in Rio, falling to Fiji in the quarter-finals - a result well below the initial expectations of NZR, as stated in their strategic goals for 2016.
Despite publicly announcing that anything less than gold medals in both the men's and the women's divisions would be considered a failure, Tietjens believes they did little to help boost his playing talent pool.
In his new book Legacy, the legendary sevens coach outlines his difficulties, including robust discussions with the Steve Hansen and Ian Foster.
Tietjens has identified a meeting with Hansen, Foster, NZR's chief executive Steve Tew, general manager Neil Sorenson and high performance manager Don Tricker.
Tietjens had previously stated that any player that wanted to be considered for selection had to play in at least four tournaments to learn the system he had implemented.
The 61-year-old knew the game was up when Ardie Savea withdrew from the selection process, days after speaking with Tietjens about how he was looking forward to Rio.
Tietjens described that phone call as a 'dagger' to his chest.
"Here was a guy who only weeks before had told me how much he was enjoying the environment and how excited he was to get himself into the best physical shape for the Olympics," Tietjens writes.
"Now he was telling me he was refocusing on the fifteens game. I didn't need to ask him for an explanation, so I wished him luck and left it at that."
Savea wasn't the only example, with Tietjens confirming several All Blacks squad members withdrew their availability midway through the 2015 Super Rugby season.
"When we talked about Beauden Barrett, I asked if anyone could tell me why a guy who seemed so keen initially had now completely changed his mind. Neil Sorensen looked at Ian Foster and asked him what he had talked to Beauden about. Ian said he had never told him he couldn't play sevens, he had only outlined a list of things he needed to work on in the fifteens game.
"I eventually left the meeting feeling completely isolated and that no leadership had been shown there. NZR had a documented strategic goal that proclaimed gold medals in the men's and women's sevens competition to be the number one priority in the 2016 season.
"I was therefore very surprised that no one spoke up to defend the programme, or my right to prepare players as I saw fit."
Seeing the writing on the wall midway through his 2015 campaign, Tietjens says he sent an email to Tricker and Sorenson stressing his need to recruit players with 'game-breaking qualities' in order to compete with the likes of England and Fiji.
"I listed players I would like to consider, once again including Beauden Barrett and Ben Smith and adding Vaea Fifita, Julian Savea, Seta Tamanivalu, Sione Fifita, Jone Macilai, Patrick Osborne, Vince Aso and Nehe Milner-Skudder.
"It was a plea for help, really, from a desperate coach. I didn't not receive a single reply."
Tietjens, who resigned as coach following the failed Olympic campaign, is currently coaching the Samoan sevens side.
Newshub.
