Settling down in a pub on a cold afternoon to watch some thrilling rugby is one of life’s true pleasures. The folks at MatchPint have picked out 10 great London boozers that are well worth a visit whenever there’s a major sporting event on TV.
To make things even sweeter, MatchPint are also offering buy-one-get-one-free on Guinness at hundreds of London venues during the Autumn Internationals. Read this list, go find a great pub and support your country this November!
A bit of a hidden gem. It happens to be James May’s local watering hole and you can see why. It’s vintage (not in a faux-cool way either), the ales are brilliant, as expected, and it has a real friendly local feel about it.
Famous Three Kings – Kensington
Perhaps the capital’s best traditional sports venue. With 16 screens and frankly, every channel under the sun available to them, they’re extremely unlikely to not be showing what it is you’re after. Expect this place to fill up good and early on a Saturday during November.
Stuck in Westfield Shepherd’s Bush for the afternoon?Desperate to see a bit of the game? Tell your better half you ‘need the toilet’, nip off to this slick, modern establishment, get a swift beer in and return several hours later, ‘well refreshed’ with a brand new bunch of best buddies, following an epic last gasp victory. The old ‘I got lost line’ works a treat EVERY time if there’s trouble. Promise.
One of Clapham’s truly charming venues, it has a huge function room upstairs available to hire privately if you can’t bear the sight of anyone else whilst you’re watching sport on a massive projector.
Our pick for a great place to while away a couple of hours if you’re on the way to or from Twickenham. A great alternative to the places everyone goes to. It’sa good honest pub located slap bang between the two big parks in the area.
Serves the best pint of Guinness in London, or at least close to it, and have a loyal following from just about every team in the world of sport (20 Peruvians regularly set up base here whenever their team is playing football…). Always has an electric atmosphere for the big games and is good for a laugh on the quieter nights.
Possessing of London’s very best rooftop space, this is exactly where you want to be on a chilling November afternoon. Have no fear, the warmth is here, though it comes inside from rugby and great beer.
When we walked into the Temperance in 2012, it was asomewhat ramshackle spot and didn’t know what it was or wanted to be. Fast forward two years and it’s one of the ultimate sports venues in southwest London, combining cinema-style screening on the mezzanine with grand open space downstairs. Enough TVs to ensure everyone can see – crucial!
It’s where the MatchPint team choose to watch a lot of rugby games and not because it’s local. There’s a fantastic bunch of bar-propping characters that give this place its warm atmosphere, but the food and drink are worth making the trip alone. Both chorizo and runny scotch eggs can be found on the bar snacks menu. Enough said.
The Dickens Inn – St Katherine’s Docks
Not just because we wanted something east and edgy. In fact, it’s not that east, and it’s definitely not that edgy. It is, however, stunning, both outside and in, while rugby is a key part of their offering in this huge old pub and comes as part of some Tudor ambience that predates the beautiful game itself.
Honourable mentions:
Walkabout, Temple – because it’s Aussie and it’s a classic.
The Hope Fitzrovia – because it’s Kiwi run and isMatchPint’s newest pub in London.
The Orange Bull, Rotherhithe – because we need a dot edicatedSaffa joint, because we don’t only recommend MatchPint pubs, and because it’s at the end ofDom’s(MatchPint’s pub manager)street.
So there you have it. The beauty of our fine capital however is that these pubs barely even scratch the surface! If you’re looking for a pub showing any of the Autumn Internationals, or indeed any sport on TV, head towww.MatchPint.co.uk and we’ll do our best to find your nearest bars screening a game.
