Rugby Central - The Orange Tree in Richmond

Some bars and pubs, whether it be by accident or design, have a purpose. Champagne bars, ostensibly for romance seem to cater more for business deals and job offers. City cocktail bars are in reality pick-up joints. Antipodean and Irish theme bars are where badly dressed people go to get drunk.

Sitting amongst these bars are a genre of pub which as a consequence of location, a relatively high number of TVs, and of course, seriously posh pretensions, become rugby bars. The Orange Tree in Richmond is one such place which I visited recently with my drinking crew.

I first went here a few years back for a pre-Ascot tipple and found it charming and spacious with country pub style service. The sort of place that posh people love. Of my return visit the other week I am pleased to say that its a pub that continues to do what it says on the box. That is - serves a good range of beers, wines and grub in a comfortable almost homely environment. Except of course on rugby day when its rammed to the rafters. However this is not your footy crowd mosh-up as one might see during any World or European Cup tournament. People are polite and for the most part rather sober. Not surprising given the mostly male crowd of '40 something' city and legal types that seem to be the bar's core constituents.

But is it interesting? Well, if rugby isn't your thing then I'm not sure why you would stop by here, unless of course you were a local. You wouldn't call this a destination pub. It's not a place that you go to flirt, dance, or as we found on rugby day, get served your drinks quickly. Why they would only put three people behind the bar, when they were expecting and seemed to have around 400 punters is anyone's guess. But I guess this contributed to the relative sobriety of the place, which kept things very much under control. Some might say once the rugby was over it was boring. But that's a bit harsh. Despite what I've just said, I actually enjoyed the place and may head back there to watch some rugger again soon. Then again, maybe I'm getting more posh and restrained then I imagine. Let's just hope.