Transcript
VINNIE WYLIE: Well Gordon Tietjens is in Samoa so you'd have to assume he's not there on a holiday. He's been seen meeting with SRU officials and I've spoken to a few sources in Samoa Rugby as well - he was approached for the job, whether they say it or not. He's certainly somebody they would love to have in charge, he's got phenomenal experience at that level and of course Samoa are in search of a coach, having sacked Damian McGrath a month ago, and everybody I've talked to have said this is happening, it's going to happen.
The Manu Samoa coach Alama Ieremia - he's also the Director of Coaching at Samoa Rugby, so he would effectively be the boss of the impending sevens coach. He sounds pretty enthusiastic about the appointment.
ALAMA IEREMIA: "The Samoa Rugby Union need to move forward and obviously these are big strategies moving forward in terms of where we're heading. Getting the right people and the right coaches in place is very important for us...We will wait and see how Vincent (Fepuleai, SRU CEO) and the Union announce that one tomorrow, it will be exciting times."
DON WISEMAN: So it's no surprise?
VW: It's a bit of a surprise that he would accept the job because when he stood down from the New Zealand position after 20 odd years - 22 years - just last month he said he didn't think he could ever coach against New Zealand on the World Series. Of course, by taking up the Samoan role he would have to do exactly that. Some people that I've spoken to have suggested that the idea of taking on an underdog, or a team with a lot of potential, like Samoa - not like a direct rival in the sense of a Fiji or South Africa would be something that really appeals to him and obviously there's lot of parallels between Samoa and New Zealand rugby as well.
DW: How long has he got before he's got to get this team up and running?
VW: Well it's been very messy in the Samoan sevens team because of course Damian McGrath was sacked a month ago. He didn't see it coming, he still hasn't been told why exactly he lost his job to his face - he's just read about it in the media. He had already started preparations for the new season so they need to get a squad together - a number of players from last year, including the captain, Falemiga Selese, have moved on - he's playing in New Zealand for Hawke's Bay. The Oceania Sevens are in Fiji next month in Suva, so that's a preparation tournament and then the new World Series starts in Dubai at the start of December, so he's going to have six or seven weeks at best before the start of the World Series.
