Those who have trodden the streets of the City’s Finsbury Square and the surrounding area will be well aware of the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC).

Guarding the rare expanse of City grass is Armoury House, home of the HAC since 1735.

It boasts its own cricket, football and rugby clubs, and is flanked on all sides by the likes of the London Metal Exchange, SAS Institute and the London School of Business and Finance.

It was also the home of Saracens in the City, an event which saw the Premiership club host a pre-season friendly centred around the commercial opportunities the Square Mile provides.

The HAC, however, had seemingly been ditched by the great and good of the sport. Until now.

Because on 1 May the likes of Spain, Harlequins, Saracens and corporate giants will field teams in the inaugural London City 7s.

London travesty

“It’s been two years now since the sevens [World Series] has not happened in London, and the fact that there’s no leg of the new World SVNS series in Europe, let alone London, is a bit of a travesty,” organiser Dan James tells City AM.

“We want to step into that space with a bit of gusto and do something exciting.” 

James used to work with World Rugby developing the current HSBC SVNS Series, which has ditched London completely having been a popular destination for fans on the circuit.

But the London City 7s will see a mix of international, domestic and invitational teams playing against each other across the Thursday, while the bar remains open until 2am.

It is, James hopes, the beginning of a new franchise model that will take in key global cities with a mixture of teams, local and international, involved.

“The way we’re positioning this is that it is the first Thirsty Thursday of the summer,” he says. “It’s getting darker later, hopefully a bit warmer, and it is just before the bank holiday weekend.

“So you’re expected to be in the office for half of the day but you can probably get away with being out for the afternoon for some lubricated networking.”

London City 7s bonanza

There’s no disguising it, the London City 7s is certainly a throwback to the traditions of the Square Mile Thursday – where the haunts are five deep at the bar and the sun shines on the avenues that converge on the Bank interchange.