They emerged in the arrivals hall at Auckland International Airport without fanfare, captain DJ Forbes handling the silverware that has practically taken up permanent residence in the New Zealand Rugby Union's trophy cabinet.

New Zealand have now won the title eight of the nine times it has been contested with Tietjens, who started his remarkable reign in 1994, regarding this campaign's ever-changing squad's achievement as near the pinnacle.

"It's obviously right up there. It's been a huge year for us -- winning six of the eight tournaments (including Hong Kong) is a tremendous result by the players.

"It's probably one the best years we've ever had."

With six of the original squad either injured or released for 15s duty before the series was wrapped up at Twickenham a fortnight ago, Tietjens paid significant credit to the rookie players who stepped in for the likes of Victor Vito, Steven Yates, Tafai Ioasa, Edwin Cocker and Zar Lawrence.

"The pleasing part is the younger players have stepped up," he said.

"This last team had a lot of injuries. It was great for some of the new players who had their first tournaments in the last two (London and Edinburgh).

New Zealand wrapped up the series in London despite being relegated to the plate competition after being defeated by their hosts in the quarterfinals. That reversal and a loss in the Adelaide final to South Africa were the only blots in an otherwise unblemished record of 46 wins from 48 matches.

With success at Murrayfield last weekend a fitting end to the season, New Zealand won the series by a massive 50-point margin from South Africa.

Tietjens also derived great satisfaction from the naming of three former squad members in the All Blacks squad for tests against Ireland, England and the Tri-Nations.

Anthony Tuitavake, who makes his debut on the wing against Ireland in Wellington on Saturday, bench loose forward Adam Thomson and winger Rudi Wulf all honed their skills in the abbreviated form of the game.

Thomson credited his two-tournament stint with Tietjens last season as helping his development, a point not missed by the coach.

"Adam played in London and Scotland last year. I read the other day he complimented sevens and what it did for his rugby. He's a tremendous athlete," Tietjens said.

The current squad took great heart from the trio's elevation.

"We talked about it," Tietjens said.

"It's great to see those guys going through to the All Blacks -- it proves sevens gives you a huge launching pad."

Tietjens, meanwhile, said he had no plans to retire and was already eyeing next year's World Cup in Dubai.

"It's still a great game, I still enjoy it -- I guess you always enjoy it when you're winning."

Tietjens said the process of talent identification would start all over again.

"I'll be looking at the NPC and development teams for more sevens players because I'm sure I'll lose some of these guys," he said.