Another early start and trip to the stadium is greeted with anticipation, but today's matches hold a new meaning.
It's knockout time and anyone who has been fortunate enough to be involved in something like this will tell you how the atmosphere and tempo goes up several notches.
The appointments for today are made on a progressive basis, but my first port of call is a debrief from yesterday with iRB assessor, Tappe Henning (South Africa).
Fortunately the debrief goes well and is very positive. Of course there are always a few things to work on, but the overall report is good. Now it's time to cross the fingers ahead of the next round of appointments.
In our meeting on Wednesday we were all told that the best 7s referees get the following right in this order; breakdown, scrum, advantage, game management.
Thankfully it appears I did a reasonable job in heeding this advice, so I can only hope that I get a shout at a Cup quarter-final.
And I do! On pitch two I referee USA v France in the Women's Cup quarter-final. All four female officials are given a quarter-final, but the shock result sees England knocked out by Australia, while Wales men dump the New Zealanders out and England too make an early exit.
That's one of the beauties of this tournament - anyone on any day can cause an upset. It's also great for the Olympic bid to get 7s in the Games as the IOC are also here.
My quarter-final goes well, and so does the others, but it's only now that I realise what's at stake here.
While sat with Hong Kong referee (and room-mate) Gabby Lee watching the men's competition on pitch one, Paddy O'Brien comes over to give us the news of future appointments.
"Daniels, you've had a fantastic tournament - you're on the New Zealand v USA Cup semi."
This is music to my ears - I'm to referee a World Cup semi-final on the main pitch!
Paddy then tells Gabby that she had the best quarter-final and will be refereeing the Women's World Cup final! This is fantastic news - as he then explains that I will be TJing, along side Joyce Henry of Canada, with two female in-goal judges! An all-woman team on the final is a huge step forward and I'm thrilled that my room-mate has got the gig she deserves.
Sure, I'm disappointed that I didn't get the call, but that's life - that's sport. I allow myself five minutes to ponder on it, but it's vital that I accept and move on.
If I don't, all the hard work I've put in leading up to this will be wasted if I don't put in my best performance in the semi and then support Gabby in the final as a TJ. The bigger picture here is worth every second and we will be part of refereeing history.
Roll on the semi-finals!!!
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