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It's hardly the most romantic of settings to meet your future husband or wife-to-be.

Jarlath and Gillian Flynn met at a touch rugby game in 2004

But Cupid has nevertheless been shooting a few arrows across Edinburgh's touch rugby leagues.

Former Scotland rugby internationalist Sean Lineen recently revealed that since he started the first Edinburgh touch rugby leagues in 1995 – featuring women's, men's and mixed gender competitions – there have been several weddings as a result of couples meeting on the pitch.

Touch rugby player Gillian Flynn said she knew of at least five couples – including herself and husband Jarlath, 31 – who met on the pitch and have married over the last three years, with another couple set to follow suit in September.

The 33-year-old, who lives in Abbeyhill, married Mr Flynn in April 2008 after meeting him at an informal touch rugby match at the Meadows in 2004.

They were both playing in the Brewin Dolphin Edinburgh Touch League at the time, although Mrs Flynn was just starting out in the sport.

She said: "Folk can just turn up at the Meadows and play, so we both turned up to play on a Sunday afternoon and that's how we met.

"We were friends for a while through the social circle that you tend to make playing touch. We met up regularly through the various social get-togethers and probably 18 months after meeting, we started dating."

The educational psychologist added: "Because it's a mixed sport it makes it particularly sociable, unlike other sports. There are lots of opportunities to chat while playing and the whole set-up is really sociable.

"A lot of the teams in touch, including the mixed teams, have social events, too."

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