Over the first few days of action, the Rugby Sevens tournament has been one of the big successes at the Commonwealth Games; which is fitting for a sport that will take its Olympic bow in Rio in two years' time. With its origins in Melrose, Scotland, the fans witnessing the matches of the Rugby Sevens were clearly intent on feeding their energy into the players' performances.
The weekend saw the action being fast and furious, with plenty for the raucous crowds to enjoy. Lots of points, lots of 'home' countries' interest, and plenty of close finishes.
There was even a marriage proposal on the pitch!
South Africa ran out eventual winners of the gold with the appropriately named Cecil Afrika scoring the decisive try, beating New Zealand in the final, thus ending the All Blacks' winning streak at the Commonwealth Games of 30 matches dating back to the inaugural event in 1998. Australia took bronze to edge out Samoa, who had earlier edged out England in the quarter finals.
Plenty of home nation pride was evident in the Plate final between England and Wales. Despite both teams knowing that their hopes of a medal had long since gone (as they were defeated at the quarter final stages), neither demonstrated a lack of commitment during the two halves of seven minutes each.
Indeed, the result went right to the final seconds, as England finally overcame their fierce rivals with the last play of the match with a try for Phil Burgess in the corner.
For the Cook Islands though, their day was eventful before they even got to the Ibrox stadium. Travelling to the venue their coach was involved in a crash into a BMW, causing them to require alternative transport for the team and coaching staff.
Bemused passengers on a local bus were joined by a team of rugby players, determined not to miss their first match of the day. Pulling up near to the stadium, the players had an impromptu warm up by jogging the remaining distance. Sadly there was no fairy tale ending for them, as they were outclassed in the bowl 'final' by Canada by 50-7 to end up in tenth place, but it could have been far worse...
