On Saturday 18th May the iconic White Horse Pub in Parsons Green, London was transformed into The Pink Lion; a rugby mecca and social hub for sporting entertainment on a Saturday afternoon.
This was a celebration of the coming Lions tour to Australia and also an opportunity for the Lions to debut their official team suits with pride, crafted by luxury shirt makers, Thomas Pink.
As Official Outfitter for the team’s 125th Year anniversary Tour to Australia, Thomas Pink has also created an exclusive menswear collection available to the public at thomaspink.com. Signature items include a navy blazer, black velvet smoking jacket, vintage print merino wool and silk scarf as well as stocking fillers such as gold plated cufflinks, socks, Lions print ties and boxers.
For one day only the Pink Lion welcomed five star players from this years British and Irish Lions squad including George North, Rob Kearney, Ben Youngs, Geoff Parling and last but not least Lions tour Captain, Sam Warburton. Aside from its guests the Pink Lion offered pink wine tasting, coloured pink pints, astro turf bars and an Australian themed barbeque.
Dawson becomes guest rugby coach
Kicking off the celebrations was Matt Dawson and an excitable group of 40 local school children. Matt took over the whole of Parsons Green for a fun touch rugby session with the 10-14 year olds and even the Lions players couldn’t resist joining in the fun as they took to the pitch fully suited and booted.
And the end of the session each of the children was presented with a rugby ball memento which was signed and given to them by one of the players.
Vickery dons his apron once more
As a winner of Celebrity Masterchef and more importantly as the guest chef at last year’s Pink Lion pub in Mayfair, Phil is no stranger to the kitchen. However this time he was cooking with a summer twist – he manned the barbeque and flipped kangaroo and beef burgers throughout the afternoon whilst he chatted to guests at the event.
Lions lock-in and Q&A
After being mobbed by fans young and old the Lions took to the ‘stage’ behind the bar at the Pink Lion where they were asked a number of questions by guest MC Matt Dawson. The Q&A was then opened up to the floor so that the public could share their thoughts and questions about the coming tour.
Heineken Cup Final
After a day of rugby fuelled entertainment it seemed only appropriate to end the event in true sporting style with the screening of the Heineken Cup final between Toulon and Clermont-Auvergne.
The Lions Collection by Thomas Pink is available to purchase across all Thomas Pink stores and thomaspink.com. Proceeds of The Lions Collection will go towards Wooden Spoon, leading children’s charity of British and Irish rugby.
