THE story wasn't quite meant to end like this, but Michael Maltman insists that in his heart he is ready for a fresh chapter.

The 23-year-old missed out on a spot in the Team Scotland rugby sevens squad, bringing to an end his dream of competing at the Commonwealth Games.

While many would be wallowing in self pity, Maltman, one of the Sunday Herald's Six To Follow to Glasgow 2014, projects an upbeat and philosophical air. He is already moving on to pastures new with a job teaching product design and engineering in a sixth form college in Tamworth not far from Loughborough where his long-term girlfriend and fellow athlete Libby Clegg is based.

Maltman says he is coming to terms with the fact he will play no part in the Commonwealth Games as a competitor, although the slight catch to his voice betrays that he might not be quite there yet. "I have as much as I can at this stage," he says, simply. "I'm still in contact with the boys who are in the sevens team and I've been hearing how they got on in recent tournaments. It feels strange being out of the loop, having spent so much time with them over the past two years.

"A typical day was to meet the boys about 7am, travel through to Motherwell to train, then leave for Edinburgh again at 4pm. We were all spending the majority of our lives with our team-mates and friends."

After he didn't make the Team Scotland squad, Maltman stood at a crossroads. "I had to decide whether I wanted to continue playing rugby at a high level or if long-term teaching would be the best route," he says. "It's weird to think that when we first started doing these interviews it looked like it would be Libby and I both going to the Games. Now the focus will be solely on Libby."

Maltman and Clegg have been together five years after meeting in a gym at the sportscotland institute of sport. "Libby will give a different variation of this story but basically the two of us were training and she came over and started chatting. Then she asked for my phone number," he says. "She's a woman who gets what she wants."

He laughs sheepishly when asked about their first date. "We went to the cinema," he says. "It was only after I suggested it I thought: 'What an idiot. Who invites a visually impaired person to watch a film?' The date went well but the movie wasn't to her taste because I took her to see Transformers 2 - she hated it."

Maltman is conscious of ensuring that his disappointment doesn't impinge on Clegg's excitement about her looming Commonwealth Games debut. The double Paralympic silver medallist is due to compete in the T12 100m at Hampden Park. "With the rugby sevens we were always underdogs in our field compared with the likes of New Zealand and South Africa, whereas Libby is going into this as favourite," he says. "She will arguably have even greater pressure to perform, but I know Libby is looking forward to it being her first Commonwealth Games and being able to represent Scotland on this huge stage."

Clegg's unwavering focus and determination to succeed is palpable, says Maltman. "After London 2012 [where Clegg took silver] she was pretty gutted," he says. "Not that Libby thought she could have given more, because she admits she ran the fastest that she could have at the time, but it was the whole hype that surrounded it. She is sick of silver and wants to get gold. To put her name down in the history books - she deserves that."

There was talk of Maltman waiting in the wings as a replacement should any of the sevens players withdraw through illness or injury but he has now definitively ruled that out. "I won't be on the reserve list anymore," he says. "At the time we were told we weren't in the team, I was on the list but my contract was coming to an end and at the same time I'd already secured this teaching job. There is plenty of really good players who are in my position who didn't make the squad and are still training full time. Any one of those boys could easily step up to the mark if required."

The final 12 selected comprises Mark Bennett, James Eddie, Roddy Grant, Colin Gregor, James Johnstone, Lee Jones, Sean Lamont, Scott Riddell, Colin Shaw, Richie Vernon, Scott Wight and Stuart Hogg, who was recently brought in to replace the injured Tommy Seymour. "Word is Hoggy was really keen to do the sevens and it's great for him," says Maltman. "Being a Hawick boy he will know a thing or two about the game. With his style of the play it will work well too because he has more space to do what he does."

Maltman insists he won't be giving up the sport entirely. "Realistically I've made this choice and taken myself out of the equation to be involved in rugby at a professional level," he says. "Moving down to England, it's sometimes hard for even the well-known athletes to break into the squad. The decision is it's now teaching over rugby for me long term. I will still play in some capacity because I can't imagine rugby not being part of my life but the job comes first."

He is now gearing up to embrace the Glasgow 2014 experience in a new guise as spectator. "I didn't actually buy tickets for any of Libby's races on the silly assumption I would also be involved at the same time, but luckily I will be able to get some from friends and family," he says. "I'm really excited. Watching her compete in London was fantastic but I think a home Games in Scotland will be even better.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the guys I trained with too. I've never watched international sevens as a spectator before apart from on the telly. It will be unusual being in the crowd but it will be good to experience that atmosphere which sevens rugby is renowned for around the world. I will be there to cheer on the guys and have a few drinks - something I've not been able to do for the past two years."

Clegg has hinted in the past that if she does well in Glasgow, a Mulberry handbag would be her gift of choice. The reminder prompts a chuckle from Maltman. "I've just had to pay for the removal company to take all of our furniture down to Loughborough," he says. "I think the Mulberry handbag may need to remain a pipe dream for a few more years."