Forty-three days after Scotland savaged England at Murrayfield to win rugby union’s Calcutta Cup, revenge of sorts was served amid the arguably more exotic climes of the Coolangatta Beachfront at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

England’s Chris Gregory and Jake Sheaf succeeded where Dylan Hartley and over 300kg of brawny front-row had failed, dispatching their rivals in straight sets to book their place in the beach volleyball semi-finals.

Even a few spots of rain arrived, mingling with the roasting sunshine to contribute a distinctly back home feel.

But there was no nationalistic chest-beating nor supporters swinging from the net after England’s relatively routine 21-14 21-17 win over Robin Brodzski and Seain Cook.

2018 Commonwealth Games – Day Six
Jake Sheaf helped England into the beach volleyball last four (Mike Egerton/PA)

British beach volleyball is still so nascent in its development that the fates of its teams are almost inevitably intertwined: Gregory and Sheaf were both ushers at Brodzski’s wedding, while Gregory and Cook are former Great Britain team-mates.

“It’s a sad thing that we had to play each other so early in the competition,” said the 6ft 8ins Gregory. “We’ve trained and even lived together in the past. It felt like an English tour event almost, just with a slightly bigger crowd.”

English beach volleyball benefits from a purpose-built facility in Bournemouth, which Sheaf described as “bigger and slightly more luxurious” than the barn commandeered by their counterparts when inclement weather ended their training programme on Edinburgh’s Portobello beach.

“The facility allows us to train all year round, but now we need to use it in the right way and develop a programme which gets the juniors coming through and gets beach volleyball booming.

“We’re trying to do everything we can on and off court to develop the sport. Hopefully this event and our results will inspire some more people to get involved, and then it is up to us to provide them with a pathway.”

England’s sporting rivalry with the south Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu is less defined, but it will matter little on the streets of its capital Port Vila.

One day after Friana Kwevira won the nation’s first Commonwealth Games medal with a bronze in the women’s javelin, Miller Pata and Linline Matauatu combined to sink England women’s pair Jess Grimson and Victoria Palmer in a three-set thriller.

Pata, watched by her seven-month old son Tommy in what was an increasingly pro-Vanuatu arena, said: “It feels great to beat England. We were inspired by winning our first medal yesterday, and now we are determined to go on and win our own.”

Next time, the underdogs from Vanuatu are less likely to have the crowd on their side, as they face the overwhelming favourites Australia for a place in the gold medal match.