OK, so who was the bright spark who scheduled daily 8am meetings?
Pretty much everyone in the meeting room looks like they've not slept for a week, although some (those with 7s experience from the World 7s Series) cannot blame jetlag - and it has to be said it's the full-time referees who appear to have led astray by Mr Stella Artois. I have no sympathy!
So while some go back to bed, the four women officials decided to do what we do best - go shopping. A brief whizz around the Mall of the Emirates (who wants to spend time in a mall anyway) and it's off to the markets.
The gold and spice souks are an eye-opener for any visitor, although after 10 minutes I am sick to death of young men asking me if I want to buy a "handbag, sunglasses or pashmina lady?"
According to these robotic street sellers, these goods are all "genuine Gucci and Prada" - sure, but there's more fun to be had bartering with the older shop keepers over some unrecognisable sweet-smelling powder that I'm sure customs will be interested in when I arrive back. (And for the record, it's ground cinnamon).
Anyway - shopping trip over and it's off to the Atlantis Hotel (on the Palm Jameriah) where the teams are based for the duration of the tournament for a managers' meeting.
The meeting is led by Paddy O'Brien and Keith Lawrence of the iRB and it follows the usual format of what is and what is not expected/tolerated on the pitch, with lots of protocol thrown in for good measure.
But the highlight for me was when the English team coach pointed out how much other teams time-waste while taking conversions, before Keith then introduced a slide detailing the worst offenders, and there are no prizes for guessing who topped the list!
A swift bus-trip back to the hotel is followed by dinner and then crashing out in front of the largest flatscreen TV I've seen. And it's night night from me...
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