Tom Billups
| Full name | Thomas Wayne Billups | ||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | December 26, 1964 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Iowa, United States | ||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Coach | ||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||
| Playing career | |||||||||||||
| Position | Hooker | ||||||||||||
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| Amateur clubs | |||
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| Years | Club / team | ||
| Professional / senior clubs | |||
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| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 |
Blackheath F.C. Harlequins F.C. Neath RFC Pontypridd RFC |
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| National team(s) | |||
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| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1993-1999 | United States | 44 | (10) 2t |
| Coaching career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | ||
| 2001-2006 | United States | ||
Tom Billups (born December 26, 1964) is an American former rugby union rugby player (hooker position), who played for the USA Eagles as an international and Blackheath Rugby Club, Harlequin F.C., and Pontypridd RFC as a professional. After retiring as a player in 1999, he joined the staff of the United States national team and was the head coach from 2001 to 2006. In addition to coaching the Eagles, Billups managed the U.S. national sevens team program and coached the 2005 U.S. sevens team. In 2015 Billups was inducted into U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame.
Billups also coached the Collegiate All-American Team and the United States Marine Corps. Billups currently serves as associate head coach for the varsity rugby program at the University of California, Berkeley, after joining the staff in 2000.
Tom Billups began his rugby career in 1984 with the Quad City Irish, a rugby union club in Davenport, Iowa, while an undergraduate student at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. In 1985, Billups in part led the QC Irish to the 7's national championship. Starting out as an offensive lineman for the Augustana football team, Tom played football in the Fall, wrestled in the Winter and played rugby for the Quad City Irish in the Spring. Billups was a four-year letter winner during the Viking's run of four consecutive national championships for football and ended his collegiate football career 49-0-1. Billups attended Augustana College from 1983 to 1987 and graduated with a B.A. in Psychology. Tom Billups is also a member of the Augustana College Athletics Hall of Fame through his participation in four consecutive NCAA Division III national football championships.
In 1990, Billups played a season in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty before moving back to the States. He relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1991 to play for and captain the Berkeley Old Blues, which won the national championship in 1992.
After the professionalization of the game in the mid-1990s, Billups was one of the first American rugby players to sign a professional contract in 1996. He started his professional career playing for the Blackheath Rugby Club in London from August 1996 to February 1997. Billups then played for the London Harlequins]] from 1997 to 1999 and was the Supporter's Club Player of the Year during the 1997-1998 season. In 1999, Billups finished his professional playing career in Wales playing first for Neath RFC and then with Pontypridd RFC.
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