The Grandmaster of Sevens - Sir Gordon Tiejens - wants to give back to the game he so dearly loves.
“It's awesome to work with secondary school players,” he tells Newshub. “Players that love the game of sevens and aspire to go somewhere in the game of sevens.”
Sir Gordon is working with a NZ Asian Barbarians side as part of the 18-team World School Sevens tournament in Auckland this weekend and the legendary coach is still keen to get stuck in.
“If you get a free kick and you go quickly, get away from the traffic,” he tells his charges. “That's the idea of it - you attack the space, you tap and you go, and the guys go with him.
“Really quickly, then you'll reap the benefits.”
So, has this made the 66-year-old consider a return to the international scene?
“No, no, certainly not,” he insists. “I've done my time.
“I did 22 years with New Zealand and three years with Samoa. If I can get out there and help, if teams need that experience, then that's great.”
Tietjens is now committing time to another sport - he'll play at next week's senior tennis nationals at Tauranga.
“Mate, I'm a lefty, so that's a strength in itself and I love serving.
No doubt he'll continue to serve up plenty of knowledge for years to come.
