New Samoan Sevens coach Sir Gordon Tietjens is hoping to draw on the success he had with New Zealand to propel his side up the World Rugby Sevens Series table.
Training with the Samoan squad in Mount Maunganui ahead of next week's Wellington Sevens, Sir Gordon said while he was always trying to be innovative as a coach, he would never get too far removed from his principles that saw him enjoy long-standing success with the All Blacks Sevens.
"We're always looking to change as coaches, moving forward you're always looking for new initiatives, new innovations to your coaching to provide variation," Sir Gordon told Newshub.
"But you never move away from what works for you, and for the reasons I was successful when I was coaching New Zealand. I will certainly retain a lot of that, but at the same time look for new ideas to hopefully keep ahead of the opposition."
In a cruel twist of fate for Sir Gordon, he will face the side he left after the 2016 Rio Olympics in their opening match of the Wellington Sevens.
Sir Gordon said he was bracing his team for a fired up New Zealand side.
"Playing in their own tournament in Wellington, they'll be hugely motivated to do well.
"[New Zealand] won the tournament there last year, won it the last three years in a row in Wellington and they'll be motivated to do it again.
"They would have been disappointed for their first two tournaments and they'll look to redeem themselves."
However Sir Gordon, who led New Zealand to four Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens gold medals and 12 World Series Championships during his 22 years in charge, was realistic about his team's chances in the capital.
"Going into Wellington in the first game against New Zealand is going to be a huge challenge for us. It's probably a bit early for us to get the results we want but you'll gradually hopefully see it."
Newshub.
