IN the spirit of joyful optimism that has been the overarching theme of these Commonwealth Games, let us look at the bright side of Scotland's sevens performance at Ibrox.
They may have tumbled out of the medals competition when they were hammered 35-12 by South Africa, but they lasted longer in the event than any of the other home nations. Granted, this was due entirely to the fact that theirs was the last of the four quarter-finals to take place, but we joyful optimists try not to dwell on such details.
For as the English discovered with cricket long ago, claiming copyright over a sport is no guarantee of global domination. When Melrose butcher Ned Haig stepped away from the Lorne sausage mixing basin for a few moments in 1873 and dreamt up rugby's abbreviated version, he clean forgot to slip anything into the rules that would ensure success for his countrymen for evermore.
In sevens, the dominions have become the dominators, the conquered are now the conquerors. When Scotland tumbled out of the tournament, they were following, or possibly falling, in the tracks of Wales and England, who had also just taken their leave of the main event at the hands of southern hemisphere sides and dropped down into the Plate event. Not to be sniffed at, of course, but as a general rule Games athletes nurture dreams of shiny medals rather than nice bits of crockery.
In a strange kind of way, that loss to the Springboks was about the most straightforward thing Scotland did all weekend. They went out on the pitch, found out that the other lot were quite a bit better than them, and lost by a whack. In their other defeats they seemed to have adopted a policy of lulling their opponents into a false - if ultimately justified - sense of security, by conceding early scores and then staging stirring fightbacks.
That, certainly, was the pattern of the Plate semi-final match with England. Scotland's help-yourself-vicar tactic gifted first-half tries to Chris Lewis-Pratt, Tom Powell and Dan Norton, but they came surging back after the break with scores by Mark Bennett and Lee Jones. At the very end, they also unleashed Stuart Hogg on a race to the line. Inconveniently, the man he was racing against was the English speedster Norton, who tracked the Glasgow Warrior back and hauled him down and England went through 15-12.
"The same old story," sighed Bennett afterwards. "In the three games we lost, we started poorly then scored a couple of tries to get ourselves back into it. But we were unable to capitalise. Same old game. Beaten."
Bennett, still just 21, will go back to Glasgow a better and more skilful player. He has shown a turn of speed on sevens duty that he either didn't have or just didn't use before his secondment to the sevens campaign. Outgoing coach Stevie Gemmell is convinced that Bennett will appreciate the benefits of his involvement in the season ahead.
Gemmell, who returns to his job as the SRU's head of performance development, goes with the roars of the packed Ibrox stands still ringing in his ears, but with a sense of frustration festering in his heart.
"We can't afford to give teams a start and we did it again," was his immediate reaction to the England game. "You can't play at this level, against these teams, for just seven minutes, but that's what we've done.
"The atmosphere over the past two days has been unbelievable. It has been a massive honour for me to be involved. I can't think of a better stage to walk away from. It proves there is an appetite for international sevens in Scotland."
But what now happens to Colin Gregor? Not the long-serving captain and goal-kicker who has another year left on his contract with the sevens side, but the striking 50ft-high mural of the fellow that suddenly appeared on that gable end by Partick Station a few months ago to promote the Games. Is it to be part of the Games legacy or do we now need to form the Colin Gregor Preservation Society?
"I could buy the building and make sure it's preserved forever more," said the three-dimensional Gregor. "I don't know if it's part of the legacy. Maybe they'll just leave it there till it crumbles."
A bit like the prospects of northern-hemisphere sides, in fact. While the Scots packed their bags and poured some well-earned adult beverages over their tonsils, the sevens world order was maintained. The semi-finals of the main medal event were all-southern-hemisphere affairs, with the All Blacks and South Africa winning through to the final with comfortable wins against Australia and Samoa respectively.
But whatever happens to his mural, the memories of this past weekend are now permanent fixtures in Gregor's mind. "Ibrox and the Commonwealth Games experience has been comfortably the best of my life," he said. "Playing in front of this crowd has been phenomenal.
"Today hurt because we did not perform as we can."
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