Rugby College: Rugby Sevens rocks Ibrox on a raucous, record-breaking weekend of pulsating ...

By

Rob Robertson

Published:

00:14, 28 July 2014

|
Updated:

10:05, 28 July 2014

View
comments

â€˜The crowd loves us because we are the last kings of Scotland.â€™

Rugby there dates back to British colonialism and its former dictator Idi Amin â€” the self-styled â€˜Last King of Scotlandâ€™ â€” was said to have been a powerful forward, although the sport was largely suppressed under his tyrannical rule.

Despite inevitable funding concerns, they have emerged alongside Kenya as a leader in the sport in Africa, and it isÂ something Onyango expects to continue.

VIDEOÂ Scroll down for Commonwealth Games: Day 4 reviewÂ

Winners: South Africa

Winners: South Africa’s sevens celebrate their medal success

Unprecedented: It was the first time in Commonwealth Games history that the gold didn

Unprecedented: It was the first time in Commonwealth Games history that the gold didn’t go to New Zealand

All Blacks slayer: Seabelo Senatia went over twice in the final at Ibrox to claim a famous South Africa victory

â€˜After soccer, rugby is the most followed sport in Uganda and it is continuing to grow in the whole of east Africa,â€™ he said.

â€˜Tournaments like this give us the opportunity to learn from the top countries in the world and we hope to implement these more technical elements in our programme.â€™

The Ugandans finally exited after a 32-0 defeat to Canada and a lap of honour â€” complete with aÂ succession of extravagant swallow-dives â€” which was as long-winded as it was well deserved.

It was that kind of day: Papua New Guinean prop forwards posed for photos while vanquishedÂ Sri Lankans satisfied queues of autograph hunters, squeezing out every last second of enjoyment on the stage they shared with the mighty All Blacks.

The final was the perfect climax to a superb tournament in which Scotland finished outside the medals but played well until they encountered the eventual winners.

They had pushed New Zealand close in their opening Saturday match only to lose 17-14. They then hammered Barbados 56-0 before beating Canada 21-5 to qualify from their pool.

Pride: Ugandan rugby team playing against England at Ibrox

VIDEO Commonwealth Games: Day 4 reviewÂ

On Sunday, the Springboks ran up a 21-7 half-time lead that was too big a mountain to climb for the Scots, who eventually lost 35-12.

They also failed to claw back some pride in the Plate competition for sides who failed to medal, losing to the Auld Enemy.

It was a disappointing end to a tournament the hosts had entered on a wave of optimism.

They had drafted in experienced 15-a-side players like internationalists Stuart Hogg and Sean Lamont to heighten their chances but the move failed toÂ pay off.

Coach Stephen Gemmell, who always planned to stand down after the Commonwealth Games, praised the Scotland fans but criticised his sideâ€™s shortcomings for their failure to medal.

â€˜In our match against South Africa, we began badly, gave them 20 points of a start and made far too many errors,â€™ he said. â€˜If you give the best team in the world a 20 points start, you end up with that outcome. I was angry at our poor start that gave them momentum.â€™

Although none of the home nations threatened the medal positions, Gemmell believes the gap is closing between sevens rugby in the northern and southern hemispheres.

Switching codes: Stuart Hogg came in from the Rugby Union side to play for Scotland

â€˜I donâ€™t think there is a massive gulf,â€™ he said. â€˜The top teams in the world just now are southern hemisphere teams but we want to â€” and we can â€” close that gap.

â€˜This Commonwealth Games tournament has been a greatÂ platform for us and the crowds have been incredible.

â€˜Watching top-level sevens will encourage youngsters to play the game and I have to thank all the fans on behalf of the Scotland team. Our performances on the pitch may have fallen short but they (the fans) were magnificent.â€™

Farewell then to a weekend that saw nations such as Barbados,Â Sri Lanka and Uganda cheered long into the Govan air.

A crazy 48 hours where the son of pop star Billy Ocean was part of a Barbados team humbled but never humiliated in their matches.

There was fancy dress, Mexican waves, heck we even witnessed a proposal of marriage â€” accepted it must be said â€” on the Ibrox pitch.

How could she have ever said no? It was that kind of weekend.