Catering challenge
Chefs at the Marriott Hotel in Glasgow are currently being faced with a catering challenge, the size of which they have never seen.
The players of all 16 international teams have arrived to take part in the Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens and it is no small task to feed all 192, and their coaching and support crews.
"We are probably looking at anywhere between 900 and 1,000 meals a day from six in the morning right through to 10 at night," said the Marriott's Executive Head Chef, Anthony Leck.
"There are a whole lot of different requests. Some teams want white meat, some want red meat and the diets change as they get closer to the game weekend.
"We're trying to use as much Scottish produce as we can and everything that comes into the Marriott kitchens is traceable. We're ordering in, for example, 2,500 chickens, we're asking the butcher for 140 kilogrammes of beef with no fat on it.
Teams menu
Breakfast- Pancakes, toast, eggs, cereals, tea/coffee, fruits
Training- Rehydration drinks, protein/carbohydrate shake, bananas/apples, sandwiches or pancakes
Lunch- 2 x chicken breasts, burger, pasta or potatoes, assorted vegetables, bread, dessert/muffins
Training- Rehydration drinks, protein/carbohydrate shake, bananas/apples
Afternoon top-up meal- sandwich or pancakes
Dinner- 2 x chicken breasts, red meat or fish, pasta or potatoes, assorted vegetables, bread, dessert/muffins, protein shake
New coach
The face is familiar to all involved in Sevens but the name perhaps less so, and now also the job title: Tausa Faamaoni Lalomilo, Samoa Sevens head coach.
For the past few years gentle giant Lalomilo has been Team Manager and assistant to Stephen Betham, and his was one of the beaming smiles when the islanders won the 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series. With Betham now promoted to Manu Samoa 15-a-side head coach, Lalomilo was recently confirmed as the new man in charge of the country's fortunes in Sevens.
"It's a great opportunity and an honour for me to take this new post, I'm very happy to carry on the work done by Stephen Betham and to serve Samoa and the players in this sport of Sevens," he said. Lalomilo, 41, hails from Safotu and Falefa in Samoa. Prior to joining the Samoa set-up he coached the Mary St Josephs club for four year.
7s search
It's fair to say that New Zealanders are blessed with a natural aptitude for rugby - the success of their men's and women's fifteens teams on the world stage are testament to that. Right now, women's Sevens head coach Sean Horan is combing the country for players with the X factor to extend that success to the abbreviated game.
The admission of Rugby Sevens to the Olympic programme has focused minds on the road to Rio 2016, and Horan and his coaching team are conducting an exhaustive search - under the banner Go4Gold - for the women who could take that first gold medal. "We're out there marketing (Sevens) and exploring all avenues as regards other sports," he says.
Horan reveals that no more than 15 per cent of the female athletes scrutinised so far are current players, but stresses that the game of rugby isn't trying to step on any toes.
Australia improves
With the Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens now just hours away, one nation riding on the crest of a wave is Australia, who were among the first teams to arrive in Scotland.
As things stand, the young Wallabies may only lie sixth in the HSBC Sevens World Series, but their stock rose dramatically last time out at round seven in Tokyo, where an injury-depleted outfit saw off the veterans of Samoa to clinch the Cup.
With competition levels increasing year on year, and almost month by month, tournaments are becoming ever more difficult to win. So how do they explain striking gold in Japan with just eight fit players? "I think it came down to determination," said captain Ed Jenkins.
"We felt as if we'd let ourselves down in Wellington and Vegas and to lose against England in Hong Kong the way we did (with the last play of the game in the Cup quarter final) we really felt we could go one further. "We had the self belief that we could win a tournament.
In Hong Kong such a small thing cost us the tournament so we knew we could turn it around." They are sentiments echoed by his coach, Michael O'Connor: "The players showed a lot of character and desire with their backs to the wall."