This post is about a day out watching the London sevens rugby at twickenham stadium. This is one of my favourite events of the year is London Sevens which fell on the 28th May this year. Usually this falls on a bank holiday weekend but because of the Jubilee bank holiday this year, it was moved forward. I’ll run you through what to do on this day if you haven’t heard of it and want to go!
The event
While this is essentially a rugby event held at Twickenham stadium, this is by no means exclusively for avid rugby supporters. I mean, this is my second year in attendance and I am yet to properly watch the rugby! Tickets this year were £34.50 and I’d suggest buying tickets together so you all can all sit in the same area.
Come as a group
Most come as a large group and dress up. Yes you heard me, fancy dress is compulsory (well it isn’t but you’ll feel like the odd one out if you don’t!). Last time I went about 30 of us went in “army attire” however, this year we all went as Tennis players.They supposedly had a ‘Netflix theme’ this year, but I think most just tried to find the silliest possible group costumes. This year I spotted guys dressed as cheerleaders, cave men, dinosaurs and even in squid games suits.
The day
Start the day
The rugby starts early but most people aim to get there by around lunchtime. I’d start the day with someone hosting brunch and if you have the restraint, start with a mimosa because drinking is the order of the day and you don’t want to peak early. I mean, we began at 9:30 am….
We then got on a train to Twickenham, which from Clapham junction is around 20 minutes and walked from the station. It is a big event so the streets are closed off and there are clear directions on where to head. Twickenham stadium has a capacity for 82,000 people so I can assure you it can get pretty busy!
The pub
We got in around 11am and went to a local pub. It starts to get quite busy in the late morning. We stayed in the beer garden for most of our time here and then headed around 1pm to Twickenham stadium. Just a word of advice, head to the toilet earlier than needed – the queues can get biblical.
Twickenham stadium
By now most are quite merry, so I’d suggest trying to stick together. BUT if this isn’t possible, meet them in the stadium— this is the benefit of getting seats together as the stadium is enormous. I’d recommend grabbing drinks from the bar as you head in or getting food early doors as the queues seem to just get bigger and bigger as the day goes on. They have a 4 drinks per person policy so you’ll have to go in turns. What we experienced when we were in the queue for drinks was two guys behind us offering to buy our drinks if we use their card and buy a few more for them! So watch out for the sneakiness! We didn’t realise but make use of the fairground rides here while you are darting between aisles/rows to head off and see more friends!
Leaving the rugby
People usually head off around 5-6 to a pub or afters. It gets pretty busy so if you are travelling with children try to leave a little earlier or be prepared to hold them close as you wade through the throngs of people. After leaving the vast crowds we stopped off at this point for some food, we found a subway open and gathered the troops here before heading off to the Barmy Arms- away from all the chaos of everyone leaving the rugby. This pub has outdoor service and a little area by the lake to perch. We stopped off here for a drink or two and a few dipped into the lake before catching the train back to Clapham.
Overall
All in all this is one of my favourite events of the year in London. It marks summer and usually the weather is lovely this time of year. I’ll reiterate that it’s well worth getting one person to book your group’s tickets so that you’re all able to sit next to each other. Another smart trick is to book part of a row with a seat here or there missed out. People are unlikely to book to sit on their own so if a friend decides to come last minute and will be sat in another row— likelihood is they’ll be able to still join you!
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What a fun way to spend the day with a group of friends! Thanks for sharing!
Looks like you had a blast at the rugby event. I was thinking about doing something like that with a group of my friends only with American Football. Unfortunately the tickets that I want to get are way too steep for the others in my group. Time to find some new friends…lol..
This is interesting, it looks fun, and hope you guys enjoy the trip to there. I haven’t been to this event before.
It was nice reading about your experinece!