Transcript
Sir Gordon Tietjens has attended every edition of the Wellington Sevens, winning nine times, including the past three years.
But he admits this time feels a little different.
"A great challenge to have in front of me and (I've) been working with the boys now for a little while. I suppose Wellington is Wellington and it's always keen here - I suppose
a bit different for me this year after 22 years coming to Wellington to coach the New Zealand team and (now I'm) coaching Samoa but (I'm) excited about it and certainly energised."
Tietjens takes over a team that lies 12th in the World Series after struggling at the Dubai and Cape Town tournaments last month. He says the players need to be fitter.
"For the last three weeks I've had them in Mount Maunganui, which we've been centering I suppose around high performance as a real key area and around obviously having that work ethic, and getting fitter and having a real understanding (about) the importance of conditioning moving forward for all the World Series tournaments."
Gareth Baber finds himself in a slightly different position - swapping Hong Kong for a Fiji side that has won Olympic gold and back to back World Series titles.
"The reality is that there is a slight transition going on. Players have moved away from the sevens group, some new players have come on board as well and really I suppose my job is to combine the strengths obviously Fijian players have generally with the way that I like to play the game and the consistency and performance that we need to get. That's not going to come overnight - that's going to come through a process."
Gareth Baber says the players will continue to play with the traditional Fijian flair on the field but there is room for improvement.
"One of the big elements is this weekend and throughout the tournaments will be how we develop without the ball as well so how do we create pressure on opponents and use our strengths defensively - certainly our physicality - and create work and pressure on the opposition when we don't have the ball."
Meanwhile Papua New Guinea are looking forward to their first World Series appearance in two years.
The Pukpuks qualified for the Wellington and Sydney legs by finishing fourth at the recent Oceania Championship.
Coach Dougie Guise says it's a big fortnight for the team.
"Yes it was a great achievement for the team and for rugby in PNG to qualify for back to back tournaments in the World Series circuit and now we're also included, qualified for Hong Kong - the World Series qualifier - so to have three legs or three tournaments in one calendar year is a bit of an achievement."
PNG face England first up on Saturday, with Fiji taking on Australia and Samoa up against hosts and defending champions New Zealand.
