| Founded | 2004 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Cardiff, Wales | ||
| Chairman | Duncan Cameron | ||
| |||
| Official website | |||
| www | |||
The Cardiff Lions RFC (Welsh : Clwb Rygbi Llewod Caerdydd) is a gay and inclusive rugby union football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club was founded in 2004 and is the first of two gay and inclusive rugby clubs in Wales. The Lions were admitted as members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board [1] in 2006.
The Lions have competed in the three Union Cup tournaments to date; 2005 in Montpellier and 2007 in Copenhagen and 2009 in London. The 2007 tournament was a great success: Ten Lions players and Lions fans were joined by 2 of the Newcastle Ravens and one player from the Bristol Bisons RFC. The club recorded victories over NOP Amsterdam Rugby Club (35–5), Malmö Devilants, twice, (30–5 and 35–0) and the Caledonian Thebans RFC (5–25), drawing with the Emerald Warriors 10–10 on the way. The club missed out in a tense final in Copenhagen to the Emerald Warriors RFC 10–5 after extra time. [2]
2009 saw another successful year for the Lions in the Union Cup – taking part in the 10s tournament, the Lions played some superb running rugby to become undefeated 10s champions. They recorded victories over Kings Cross Steelers 2nd (19–0), Los Valents (26–12), Newcastle Ravens (0–22) and Caledonian Thebans (0–26). This set up a final against the Steelers 2nds, in which the Cardiff Lions emerged 29–7 victors. A number of the squad also helped out with the Bristol Bisons RFC who won the 7's tournament. Cardiff Lions Captain Justin Gyphion also picked up the top try scorers award to crown a highly successful weekend.
The Cardiff Lions travelled to New York, NY in May 2006 for the 3rd Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament where they came 6th in the Plate competition.
In June 2008 the Cardiff Lions travelled to Dublin for the 4th biennial Bingham Cup hosted magnificently by the Emerald Warriors. The structure of the competition and seedings put the Lions in the lower tier and competing for either the second tier Plate, third tier Bowl or fourth tier Shield. A travelling squad of 23 players and 6 support staff made a vast improvement on the previous Bingham Cup results:
Friday 13 June Game 1, Cardiff Lions 41 Phoenix Storm 10 Game 2, Cardiff Lions 36 Copenhagen Scrum 0
Saturday 14 June Game 3, Cardiff Lions 56 Manchester Village Spartans 2nds 0 Plate/Bowl decider, Cardiff Lions 31 Atlanta Bucks 0
Sunday 15 June Quarter Final Plate, Cardiff Lions 21 Emerald Warriors 19 Semi Final Plate, Cardiff Lions 5 Sydney Convicts 2nds 27
These results left the Cardiff Lions in 3rd place in the Plate competition after winning the 3rd/4th play-off boat race at the closing ceremony against San Francisco Fog RFC 2nds. A huge improvement on the previous Bingham Cup and with a lot more teams taking part (32 from around the world).
Next up for the club will be the Hadrian Cup in February. This is the annual 10's competition hosted by The Newcastle Ravens. The club also has ambitions to expand and improve the squad, developing links with local clubs.
Newport Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk.
The Gotham Knights Rugby Football Club is a division III men's club in the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union. Their home pitch is on Randalls Island in Manhattan. The team finished fourth in the 2012 Bingham Cup, an international gay rugby tournament, coming off a 2010 win in Minneapolis.
The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament or the Bingham Cup is a biennial international, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, first held in 2002. It is named after Mark Bingham, who died on board United Airlines Flight 93 when it crashed during the September 11, 2001 attacks. The most recent tournament was held in Ottawa, Canada, in August 2022 and was won by the worlds first gay and inclusive rugby club the Kings Cross Steelers.
Boston Ironsides Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Ironsides play in the New England Rugby Football Union as a Division 4 Men's Team; retaining around 40-60 members each season.
Dunraven Brewery Field is an 8,000 capacity sports stadium in Bridgend, Wales. It is the home ground of the rugby union team Bridgend Ravens. Bridgend Athletic RFC often use the ground for their home matches, as well as the Ospreys who sometimes play at the ground, including their age grade teams.
Bridgend Ravens are a semi-professional rugby union club based in Bridgend, South Wales.
The Union Cup is a biennial European, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, bringing together teams and joint teams from all over Europe. It is held every odd-numbered year.
Malmö Devilants RFC is a Swedish gay rugby union and volleyball club in Malmö. Malmö Devilants was founded 2004 and was the first gay rugby team in Scandinavia. Malmö Devilants is a member of International Gay Rugby Association and Board. Devilants have been playing in Union Cup in 2005 and 2007. In 2007 the club also started a volleyball team.
The Kings Cross Steelers are a British rugby team, based in London. Founded in 1995 it was the world's first gay-inclusive rugby union club. Its founding sparked the beginning of a much larger gay-inclusive rugby movement which to date includes over 60 clubs across the world.
Newcastle Ravens Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team located in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The current Chairman : Matt Hyland.
The Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy is a Welsh rugby union competition open to all non-premier Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) clubs playing in the Glamorgan area.
The Emerald Warriors are an Irish rugby team based in Dublin. They play in the Leinster Metro League Division 10 and 7 and are members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board. They are the reigning bronze final champions since Union Cup Madrid 2017. The Warriors are Ireland's first primarily gay rugby team although it is open to anyone with an interest in playing rugby and includes heterosexual members.
Caledonian Thebans Rugby Football Club is Scotland's leading inclusive rugby club and represents Scotland in international rugby union tournaments for inclusive teams.
The Ottawa Wolves are a rugby union football club for men and women in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The men's side of the club is predominantly made up of gay men, but both sides of the team are inclusive of anyone who wishes to join regardless of sexual orientation.
International Gay Rugby (IGR), formerly known as the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB), is the umbrella organisation for the world's gay and inclusive rugby clubs. Based in London, UK, IGR is recognised by World Rugby as the representative organisation of the LGBT and inclusive rugby community, up to the point they both have signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining a commitment between the two organisations to work together to educate and eliminate homophobia in rugby.
Nashville Grizzlies RFC is a men's rugby union football club in Nashville, Tennessee. The club was formed in 2006 to bring the sport to typically under-represented populations although it welcomes anyone interested in the sport. The club is made up of approximately 90 members consisting of both active players, as well as non-playing Auxiliary members.
Bristol Bisons RFC is an inclusive English rugby union club based in Bristol. Founded in 2005 as the south west’s first inclusive rugby team, the Bisons have welcomed players of all abilities, backgrounds and sexualities from Bristol, Somerset, South Gloucestershire and the surrounding areas since that time.
The 2013–14 British and Irish Cup was the fifth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. Leinster A were the defending champions having won the 2012–13 Final with a 78th minute penalty by Noel Reid to beat Newcastle Falcons 18–17 at their home ground Kingston Park. There has been four different winners and four different losing finalists of the competition in the first four seasons of its existence.
The Manchester Village Spartans RUFC is Manchester's gay and inclusive rugby union football team based at Sale Sports Club, Manchester.
The Berlin Bruisers are a gay and inclusive rugby club based in Berlin, Germany. They were founded in 2012, and are the first team of its kind in Germany. Although they are a primarily gay rugby team, the club is open to anyone with an interest in playing rugby and includes members of all sexualities and gender identities. The club is affiliated with International Gay Rugby.
