The
Lions (known as the
Emirates Lions for sponsorship reasons) are a South Africa n professional rugby union team who compete in the Super Rugby competition. They were previously known as the Cats between the 1998 and 2006 seasons. They have not achieved great success in the competition, finishing at the bottom of the table six times (in 1998, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2012). However, they have managed to reach the semifinal stage twice (in 2000 and 2001). The Lions play in a red and white strip.The team faced relegation from the Super 14 after the Southern Spears won a court ruling that they should be included in the competition in place of the lowest ranked South African team in the 2006 competition. However, the Spears and the country's national federation, the South African Rugby Union , reached a settlement of their legal case. By the terms of the settlement, announced on 16 November 2006, the financially troubled Spears abandoned their case.As part of a second attempt to introduce Super Rugby into the Eastern Cape, after finishing bottom of the 2012 Super Rugby table, the South African Rugby Union mandated that the Lions be replaced in the 2013 competition by the Southern Kings from Port Elizabeth. The Lions exclusion lasted just one season as they regained their place in Super Rugby for the 2014 season by beating the Southern Kings in a two leg playoff after the Kings finished bottom of the 2013 South African conference.
History
Transvaal/Gauteng Lions (1996-97)
When the Super 12 was launched in 1996, both Australia and New Zealand created franchise-based models for their teams in the new tournament. South Africa however, used the previous seasons Currie Cup to determine what provinces would be promoted to the new international tournament. The Transvaal Rugby Union were promoted in the first ever season, winning three of their 11 fixtures, finishing in 10th position on the end of season ladder, above the Canterbury Crusaders and the Western Province.Transvaal were again promoted to the Super 12 for the 1997 season, and played under the title of the Gauteng Lions. The Lions' season was a lot more successful than their results in the inaugural season. The Lions won and lost five matches, and drawing one, to finish in fifth place overall on the end of season table, two points behind the fourth-placed Natal Sharks, narrowly missing out on a place in the finals.
Cats (1998-2005)
-For the 1998 season SA Rugby changed the Currie Cup qualification process for the Super 12, following Australia and New Zealand by forming provincial franchises. The Cats, or Golden Cats were established as one of the four new franchises, and were centered around the Golden Lions , as well as the Leopards and Pumas, as well as drawing from the Free State, Griffons and Griquas. The Cats home ground was to be shared between Ellis Park and the Free State Stadium.The Cats did not make the finals in their first two seasons, but the appointment of former New Zealand coach Laurie Mains for the 2000 season signalled a change in fortunes. After defeating the Bulls in Pretoria in the opening round, they also defeated the Stormers at home in round two. However, the Cats' good fortunes soon went sour as they fell to four straight losses, even going down 64-0 to the Brumbies. The losing streak was snapped when the Cats pulled off a one-point victory over the Sharks in Durban . Following a bye, the Cats stormed through the remainder of the season undefeated to finish in fourth position, their best finish yet, as well as qualifying for a semi-final.The semi-final was played at the Brumbies' home ground in Canberra , with the homeside winning 28-3 to knock the Cats out of the finals. The 2001 Super 12 season started off in a positive style for the Cats; defeating the Stormers 29-24, and then crushing the Highlanders 56-21, as well as narrowly losing a reply of last season's semi-final against the Brumbies 19-17. The Cats qualified for the finals again, finishing in third place bettering last season's fourth. However, they were again knocked out in the semi-finals, losing 30-12, this time to the Sharks. The Cats did not qualify for the finals the next few seasons. Then the Super 12 was expanded into the Super 14 for the 2006 season, with the addition of two new teams; the Central Cheetahs and the Western Force . The Cats finished in 13th place overall.
Lions (2006-)
On 8 September 2006, the Golden Lions Rugby Union, the union that at the time operated both the Golden Lions and the Cats, announced that the team would be known in the future as the Lions, and unveiled a new logo.During the 2010 Super 14 season , the Lions lost all 13 games of the season, setting a new record. The previous record was held by the Bulls, with 0 wins from the 11 game season in 2002. On 20 January 2011, the club announced a 3-year sponsorship deal with telecoms company MTN. From 2011-12 they were known as the MTN Lions for sponsorship reasons. Ivor Ichikowitz and Robert Gumede pledged to purchase a 49.9% stake in the club through their investment company GumaTac in October 2010. The deal fell apart in 2011 due to differences with GLRU executives. In February 2011, the club signed Springbok fly-half Butch James among other high profile signings Lionel Mapoe, Pat Cilliers and Rory Kockott .
Relegation and Lions Challenge Series, 2012-
After finishing on the bottom of the Super Rugby table for the third time in five seasons, South African Rugby Union (SARU) officials voted in August 2012 to relegate the Lions from the competition and promote the Eastern Cape-based Southern Kings .
On 10 January 2013, the GLRU launched a schedule of 16 matches called the 2013 Lions Challenge Series. This series would begin on January 19 against Russia, and conclude on July 20 against Top 14 team Grenoble, to be followed by the Super Rugby promotion/relegation play-off.At the launch of the series, President Kevin de Klerk said:
We took major umbrage to the decision made in Cape Town last year to relegate us, and the easy route would have been to play the blame game and look for scapegoats... But we have decided to get on with the rugby and ensure we continue to serve our stakeholders."| Lions Super Rugby squad |
|---|
| Props Ruan Dreyer Corné Fourie Julian Redelinghuys Pieter Scholtz Dylan Smith Jacques van Rooyen Hookers Robbie Coetzee Malcolm Marx Ramone Samuels Akker van der Merwe Locks Lourens Erasmus Andries Ferreira Robert Kruger MB Lusaseni Franco Mostert Martin Muller | Loose Forwards Ruan Ackermann Fabian Booysen Cyle Brink Stephan de Wit Jaco Kriel Ruaan Lerm Warwick Tecklenburg Warren Whiteley (c)Scrum-halves Ross Cronjé Faf de Klerk Dillon Smit Fly-halves Marnitz Boshoff Ashlon Davids Elton Jantjies Jaco van der Walt | Centres Stokkies Hanekom Rohan Janse van Rensburg Lionel Mapoe Howard Mnisi Jacques Nel Harold Vorster Wingers Ruan Combrinck Sampie Mastriet Courtnall Skosan Anthony Volmink Fullbacks JW Bell Andries Coetzee Sylvian Mahuza |
| |
| (c) Denotes team captain and Bold denotes internationally capped. |
Current Standings
| # | | P | W | D | L | Goals | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Crusaders | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 324:202 | 37 |
| 2 | Chiefs | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 342:238 | 37 |
| 3 | Highlanders | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 295:205 | 37 |
| 4 | Hurricanes | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 331:240 | 36 |
| 5 | Stormers | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 265:175 | 31 |
| 6 | Waratahs | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 256:189 | 30 |
| 7 | Brumbies | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 277:247 | 29 |
| 8 | Bulls | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 258:221 | 28 |
| 9 | Lions | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 268:235 | 27 |
| 10 | Sharks | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 206:171 | 26 |
| 11 | Blues | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 230:218 | 25 |
| 12 | Melbourne Rebels | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 235:258 | 23 |
| 13 | Cheetahs | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 296:296 | 16 |
| 14 | Jaguares | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 237:254 | 12 |
| 15 | Reds | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 198:309 | 12 |
| 16 | Western Force | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 183:321 | 10 |
| 17 | Sunwolves | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 219:379 | 9 |
| 18 | Southern Kings | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 190:452 | 4 |
Recent Matches
Lions Last 5 Results| Date | Home | Score | Away | Notes | Details |
|---|
| 30 Apr 2016 | Lions | 17 - 50 | Hurricanes | | Details |
| 28 May 2016 | Bulls | 20 - 56 | Lions | | Details |
| 27 Feb 2016 | Sunwolves | 13 - 26 | Lions | | Details |
| 23 Apr 2016 | Southern Kings | 10 - 45 | Lions | | Details |
| 21 May 2016 | Lions | 52 - 24 | Jaguares | | Details |
Lions Next 5 Matches| Date | Home | vs | Away | Notes | Details |
|---|
| 02 Jul 2016 | Lions | vs | Sharks | | Details |
| 08 Jul 2016 | Lions | vs | Southern Kings | | Details |
| 16 Jul 2016 | Jaguares | vs | Lions | | Details |
Captains
| Years | Captain |
|---|
| 1996 | Francois Pienaar |
| 1997 | Kobus Wiese |
| 1998 | Hannes Strydom |
| 1999 | Rassie Erasmus |
| 2000 | André Vos |
| 2001 | Rassie Erasmus |
| 2002 | Jannes Labuschagné |
| 2003 | Bobby Skinstad |
| 2004-2006 | Wikus van Heerden |
| 2007 | André Pretorius |
| 2008 | Ernst Joubert |
| 2009-2010 | Cobus Grobbelaar |
| 2011 | Franco van der Merwe |
| 2012 | Josh Strauss |
| 2014-present | Warren Whiteley |
Coaches
The current head coach of the Lions super rugby team is Johan Ackermann, who has held the position since 2013.| Coach | Tenure | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | Winning Percentage |
|---|
| Kitch Christie | 1996 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 27.3% |
| Ray Mordt | 1997 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 45.5% |
| Peet Kleynhans | 1998 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 18.2% |
| Andre Markgraaff | 1999 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 36.4% |
| Laurie Mains | 2000-2001 | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 63.6% |
| Rudy Joubert | 2002 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 9.1% |
| Tim Lane | 2003 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 18.2% |
| Chester Williams | 2004-2005 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 9.1% |
| Frans Ludeke | 2006 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 15.4% |
| Eugene Eloff | 2007-2009 | 39 | 11 | 1 | 27 | 28.2% |
| Dick Muir | 2010 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0% |
| John Mitchell | 2011-2012 | 32 | 6 | 1 | 25 | 18.8% |
| Johan Ackermann | 2013-present | 34 | 17 | 1 | 16 | 50% |
