It had started with Cecil Afrika, stylish braids and the swagger of a rugby player, carrying the flag into Celtic Park at the opening ceremony, cheered wildly by the Scottish crowds. And the applause carried over to Ibrox stadium five days later when the Blitzbokkes, the South African Sevens squads, ended New Zealand’s domination of Commonwealth Games rugby with a popular and pacy 17-12 title victory in Glasgow’s sporting heart.

Glasgow, the first European municipality, to give Nelson Mandela the Freedom of the City in 1981 with apartheid still prevalent, was treated to the best exhibition of a mixed-colour team (no longer rare), outpacing the domineering All Blacks as Glasgow’s Ibrox Stadium on Sunday night dropped all pretense of neutrality.

Scotland’s last tryst with the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh 1986 had been blighted by wide-scale boycotts against South African apartheid, and it was just as well that Glasgow rallied behind the South Africans 28 years later, with the mixed-colour team a refreshing reality of these times.

If you were stranded on the streets coursing out of Ibrox on Sunday as 50,000 fans headed home giddy from having witnessed a much-adored team shock the four-time champions, you wouldn’t have minded the absolute chaos of a transport failure which meant cabs were hard to find till very late in the night.

“Except for New Zealand’s travelling fans, everyone else was behind South Africa. I suspect even the All Blacks fans wouldn’t have minded their team losing to the Blitzbokkes,” gushed an enthusiastic Glaswegian, Rhys Gordon, when walking back home after tweeting about every magical moment of South Africa’s triumphant night.

Seabelo Senatla defined the searing pace with which the Sevens Springboks play with his two tries either side of the break, and Cecil Afrika was lightning quick to the corner for his sensational diving try.

Rugby’s symbolism had been greatly highlighted, and Glaswegians take immense pride in being the first city to speak out against the abuses of apartheid. In fact, the key reason for 1980s boycotts were that British Lions and New Zealand had continued playing the all-white South Africa in apartheid.

Glasgow, in its opening ceremony, had a dedicated segment to Nelson Mandela, through the iconic Billy Connolly’s tribute to Madiba. Glasgow University was also the first, in fact, to hand a medical degree to a coloured man, as its fiercely liberal spirit of absolute equality wouldn’t accept a world that was otherwise.

“Our former President Nelson Mandela said rugby and sports can bring people and nations together; over the last 20 years South Africa has really pulled together as a nation,” Cecil Afrika, the stylish lightning-paced flyhalf said after the match.

New Zealand have dominated the truncated Sevens format and were unbeaten in the Games since its debut in 1998. Rugby 7s is now an Olympic sport, and Glasgow had witnessed packed houses on both days, with South Africa looking formidable throughout.

New Zealand were completely overpowered in the final and the Bokks are known for their physicality, but what had been stunning was South Africa’s added dimensions. “Cecil and Seabelo were brilliant to watch, they flew like thoroughbreds,” said Ryder Taylor, a New Zealander who was swamped by the emotion of the match and the speed and agility on display. Having slumped to the floor after a long walk to Argyle Street, he said he would never forget this evening even if his team had lost.

Cecil and du Preez got a huge cheer every time they got the ball, and Ibrox was taken in by the charisma of the entire South African team, and it wasn’t just because they were firm underdogs against the favourites All Blacks.