Founded in 1964, the Chicago Lions Rugby Football Club is a

USA Rugby USA Rugby (formally the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugby ...

club based in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, United States. The Chicago Lions namesake is taken from the two large lion statues that guard the entrance to the

Art Institute of Chicago Building The Art Institute of Chicago Building (initial 1893 main-structure built as the ''World's Congress Auxiliary Building'') houses the Art Institute of Chicago, and is part of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District in the Chicag ...

Sponsorship

Notable sponsors include Athletico Physical Therapy, Oakmark International Funds, and CPH and Associates.

Notable players

The following is a list of former and current Lions players and coaches that have earned caps for international tests:List of Lions players with international caps

Niue

*Stephen Tapuosi, one international cap

Ireland

* Paul McNaughton, fifteen international caps

England

*Gary Wilson, two international caps

South Africa

Kitch Christie George Moir Christie, better known as Kitch Christie (31 January 1940 – 22 April 1998), was a South African rugby union coach best known for coaching the country's national team, the Springboks, to victory at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. He rem ...

, coached the 1995 Rugby World Cup winning Springboks * Willie Kahts *

Harry Viljoen Harry Viljoen is a South African former rugby coach and player. He coached the provincial teams of the Transvaal, Natal, and Western Province, before being appointed as coach of the South African national side. He retired as Springboks coach ...

, coached the 2001 Springboks

United States

*Andre Blom, fullback/wing, thirteen international capsPlayer Profiles on usarugby.org
*John Burke, flanker, two international caps * Phillipus "Thabu" Eloff, centre, forty-four international caps *

Paul Emerick Paul Emerick (born January 24, 1980) is the head coach of the Colorado Raptors, American Raptors in Glendale, Colorado. He was the defense and skills coach and the 2019 interim head coach for the Houston SaberCats of Major League Rugby. He was a ...

, centre, thirty-five international caps *Scott "Beaver" Jones, centre, one international cap *Christian Long, lock, one international cap *Jeremy Nash, fullback, two international caps *Eric Helbig, Wing, three international caps *Andrew McGarry, prop, two international caps *Eric Reed, lock/flanker, seven international caps * Dave Williams, halfback, seven international caps

References

External links

* 1964 establishments in Illinois Rugby clubs established in 1964

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

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