Central Coast Sevens Media Release –

All Blacks 7s Coach and IRB Rugby Hall Fame Inductee Sir Gordon Tietjens has been announced as the official guest of the Fitness First Central Coast Sevens International Rugby Festival.

Tietjens is considered to be one of the finest coaches of any sport in the world. He has led New Zealand’s dominating run in the world of rugby sevens throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In the 14 years since the IRB Rugby World Series has been run, he has won 11 World Titles and four Commonwealth Games Gold Medals in Kuala Lumpar (’98), Manchester (’02), Melbourne (’06), Delhi (’10), following with a Silver medal in Glasgow (’14).

He was named the New Zealand Rugby Union Coach of the year in 2010, recognised for guiding his team to a fourth consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medal.

In 1999 he was awarded the NZ Order of Merit in the New Zealand’s Honours List and in 2007 the Insignia of a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. In 2012 Gordon became the 49th inductee into the International Rugby Board’s Hall of Fame.

The commemorative cap and gold pin were presented at an awards ceremony at Twickenham, shortly after New Zealand clinched their 11th World Series title from 14 attempts. Gordon was further promoted in 2013 to a Knight Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to rugby after 19 years of coaching the All Black Sevens.

Tournament Director Craig Morgan said “we are honored to have Sir Gordon & Lady Julia joining us as our special guests for this years tournament. Gordon is regarded as the greatest sevens coach in the history of the game and we are a little in awe that he will be here for the CC7s, his presence adds another dimension of pressure to deliver an explosive and well run tournament”.

Sir Gordon & Lady Julia are anticipated to arrive on the Central Coast on the 22nd October enjoying a short break locally before undertaking a few low key commitments around the CC7s Tournament with the visit supported by local company Presiliant.

The presence of the master coach further enhances the prestige of the explosive rugby tournament, which is set to feature some of the strongest sevens teams and players from around the world in October as International, National & Club Champions from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Malaysia, Canada, Japan, Brazil and the USA contest the highly anticipated event.

The 2014 Fitness First CC7s is set for 24th, 25th and 26th October regular updates can be found at the tournaments official Facebook page and Twitter account @CC7S.