New Singapore rugby sevens coach Paul Tietjens sets goal of being in Asia’s top four

SINGAPORE – From young, Paul Tietjens has learnt first-hand the importance of discipline and hard work, and how the relentless pursuit to get 1 per cent better every day can set elite athletes apart from average ones.

His father is legendary rugby coach Gordon Tietjens, 69, who led the All Blacks Sevens to two Rugby World Cup Sevens titles, four Commonwealth Games gold medals and 12 world series crowns from 1994 to 2016. The feats led to his induction into the International Rugby Board’s Hall of Fame.

Tietjens, 36, has carried his dad’s unwavering commitment to discipline and a strong work ethic into his coaching career, which has now led him to Singapore.

The Singapore Rugby Union (SRU) announced on Jan 27 that he has been appointed the national sevens coach, and will take charge of both the men’s and women’s sevens programmes.

SRU president Sunny Seah said Tietjens’ “extensive coaching experience in the international arena” and a “proven track record in sevens rugby” made the New Zealander the ideal candidate to lead Singapore’s national teams. 

In an interview at the SRU office at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Tietjens rolled off the names of legendary players who had trained under his father. They include Sonny Bill Williams, Christian Cullen and the late Jonah Lomu.

He had the opportunity to witness some training camps and was also involved in leading the team’s fitness tests later in his career.

Asked what he has learnt from his father, Tietjens said: “Hard work and discipline are the two core values that he really instilled in me.

“Being immersed in that (All Blacks Sevens) environment and looking at the way they train and prepare is something that I certainly took on board (in my coaching). The professionalism that those players showed on a daily basis, the efforts they put in to get themselves ready for battle is something I want to instil in players.”

Tietjens, who has signed a one-year-deal with an option to extend for another year at the end of 2025, takes the seat vacated by former national head coach Suhaimi Amran, who parted ways with SRU in August 2024 after over three years in charge.

Tietjens, a former physical education teacher in New Zealand, comes with international experience, having coached Papua New Guinea’s women’s sevens team in their Olympic qualification campaign from 2018 to 2021.

He was also the strength, conditioning and skills coach for the Samoa men’s sevens team from 2017 to 2018 and held various club-level coaching roles in New Zealand.

While he understands the limitations in Singapore – such as the fact that his players are not full-time athletes – he is hoping to get the best out of his charges.

Tietjens will work with SRU to implement a sevens programme that will “challenge the players from a physical, mental, technical and tactical perspective”.

“We need to provide an environment for the players to be really pushed to get better every single day, so that they’re not just coming to training to tick a box and then go home,” he said.

“So it’s fair to say the players are going to be challenged physically and mentally, but they have to get up to a level which allows them to do that first. So there’s going to be definitely some challenging times for them.”

Showing that he is not afraid to aim high, Tietjens told The Straits Times that he has set an ambitious target of being in the top four in Asia and on the podium at the Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Thailand.

Singapore’s last medal at the biennial event was at the 2017 edition where both the men’s and women’s teams won a silver. In 2019, when the sport was last featured, they returned home empty-handed.

At the most recent Asia Rugby Sevens Series in Thailand in November 2024, the men’s and women’s teams both finished last out of eight teams. At the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, the women finished sixth out of seven teams while the men were seventh out of 13 sides.

Tietjens said: “By the end of 2026, (we want to be a) top-four nation in Asia. There are a lot of strong teams, but looking at some of the footage from the Asian Games... I think it is possible and it’s about building a consistent performance to be at that level.”