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Ben Gollings is one of the greatest sevens players to have played the game. He is the all-time record points-scorer with 2,374 in 62 tournaments and is preparing for his third Commonwealth Games. Follow’s Ben RFU Diary as the countdown continues...

Day 2 (Tuesday)

We're into our second day in the Village here and the experience has been pretty awesome so far. There’s a great atmosphere, the food’s brilliant and things are being run pretty well.

On Sunday we had a good blow-out in the pool and then headed off to the opening ceremony. It was pretty hot work but good fun.

Then on Monday, we were straight into it with three sessions: wake up, swim, get breakfast, an upper body weights session and then a quick break and food before we got out on the field.

The temperature was up around 35 degrees and you wouldn’t want to play if it’s much hotter than that. It’s pretty intense when you’re still tired and it hit us hard but the boys worked well. Ben Ryan made us run around a bit but you can’t have any excuses in this game. We’ll be better for it as long as we rest and recover properly. All in all it’s been a good day.

It’s often said that the Village and everything going on in it can be a distraction from your competition but to be honest everyone’s getting on with their jobs. You meet other athletes in the food hall or walking around and catch up, but you’re all focused on what you’re doing. That means there is a real buzz about the place.

In terms of preparations, we take things pretty similarly to the way we do with other tournaments on the IRB Sevens World Series. You’ve just got to do the right thing. We’re over here in extreme conditions, hot, humid, and you’ve got to rest up and stay hydrated. The boys were losing 2-3kg in an hour’s training but if we do the right things we’ll put ourselves in good shape for next week.

Day 1 (Monday)

Hello, we're in a good routine in Delhi building up to the Commonwealth Games Sevens. We got up for a good pool session before breakfast, a power session in the gym, some rest and then a session on the field with the Canadian side followed by analysis after dinner.

We played a game in the pool called Marco Polo, it's a bit like hide-and-seek in the water, if that makes sense. Basically it's a listening game – if you're in you close your eyes and say 'Marco' and everyone else says 'Polo' and via their voices he has to try and catch someone. Simple pleasures.

Canada were the opposition in our training game today and provided us with our first semi-contact hit-out. We haven't played much and it was good to put into practice what we've been training so hard for.

They're games that aren't 100 per cent realistic but you get a lot out of and learn a lot from. It wasn't perfect but it's next week that we need to peak and the boys are in good spirits and we're still learning.

Canada caused us a few problems, they made it difficult and they've learned immensely over the last four or five seasons. They're starting to get the bits and pieces together that you need to be a good side.

They one of many countries who are going to benefit hugely from where Sevens is going through inclusion in the Olympic programme. They're only going to get better and better which will raise the level of the game, which is what we want.

All in all, it's been a long day, a good day, and we'll have more of the same tomorrow.

Ben Gollings was talking to rfu.com