The Lions (known as the Emirates Lions for sponsorship reasons) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg in the Gauteng province. They competed in the Super Rugby competition until 2020, and have competed in the United Rugby Championship since 2021 while also competing in the domestic Currie Cup competition where they are known as the Fidelity ADT Lions for sponsorship reasons. They are the successor of the teams known as Transvaal (1996), Gauteng Lions (1997) and the Cats (1998–2006).
They had varied results in Super Rugby, finishing at the bottom of the table six times (in 1998, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2012), but reaching the semifinal stage five times (in 2000, 2001, 2016, 2017 and 2018). They reached their first final in 2016 – where they lost to the Hurricanes 20–3 in Wellington – The Lions made the final again in 2017 but this time on their own ground but lost again against the Crusaders with the final score being 17–25. The team reached their 3rd consecutive final in 2018 when they lost against the Crusaders 38–17 in Christchurch. Their most successful coach was Johan Ackermann. The team plays its home matches at Ellis Park Stadium.
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.[1]
As part of a second attempt to introduce Super Rugby into the Eastern Cape, the South African Rugby Union mandated that the Lions, who finished bottom of the 2012 Super Rugby table, would be replaced in the 2013 competition by the Southern Kings from Port Elizabeth.[2] 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
Pre-franchise history
The Transvaal Rugby Football Union, with its headquarters in Johannesburg, was formed in 1889 after delegates from different clubs in the region decided to form a united rugby union to look after the well-being of the clubs. Prominent clubs involved in the process were Pirates, Wanderers, Pretoria, Potchefstroom and Kaffrarians. The first elected president was Bill Taylor (born 1858). Transvaal's first match was against Griquas in Kimberley on 31 August 1889.
The original colours used by Transvaal were dark blue and white jerseys, blue shorts and blue-and-white socks. It is unsure when the union decided to switch over to a white jersey with a red hoop with black shorts and socks. There is also a school of thought that the union adopted the famous Kilmarnock strip of white top with red hoop as a Kilmarnock member, Alex Frew, captained them when they beat The British Isles touring team in 1903. These colours are still in use today. It is also from these colours that the teams’ nickname, "Rooibontes" came from.
The original union encompassed a much bigger catchment area than it does currently. Unions that gained independence from Transvaal are Western Transvaal (currently the Leopards) in 1920, Northern Transvaal (currently the Blue Bulls) in 1938, and Eastern Transvaal (currently the Pumas) in 1948. Robert Owen Loftus Versfeld, after which the stadium in Pretoria is named, was a lifetime member of the Transvaal Rugby Football Union. According to a Lions tale – 120 years of the red and white, Versfeld died of a heart attack at Ellis Park in 1932 when he attended a match between Transvaal and the Free State.
The union has undergone several name changes in recent years – first changing its name to the Lions in 1993, the Gauteng Lions in 1997, before finally changing to The Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) in 1998. The GLRU competes in the Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup competitions under the sponsorship name of Xerox Golden Lions. The GLRU served as the main feeder union for the Lions, in Super Rugby, and since 2021 in the United Rugby Championship, which also encompass the Pumas and the Leopards, although very few of their players have been historically selected. The Golden Lions and Lions share the same home stadium, Ellis Park, located in the suburb of Doornfontein.
Financial turmoil
In the 1980s the union ran into serious financial trouble, mostly as a result of redeveloping Ellis Park. Transvaal supporters nearly did not have a union to support anymore as at one stage the most likely outcome was that the union would disband. In 1984 the union had R37 million of debts to repay, which forced Volkskas Bank to carry the union for a period. This debt mainly came from the union redeveloping the old Ellis Park into a modern 80,000- seat stadium in 1980. The union started out with R1 million of its own money, and intended to raise another R12 million through the sales of suites and life memberships. However, due to the underperforming team, the union had a hard time to sell these ideas to businessmen and the intended revenue to fund the stadium never materialized.
In March 1984 Volkskas took over the management of Ellis Park. By August the union was told to repay debts of more than R40 million by 4 September. According to Louis Luyt in his autobiography, Walking Proud, the union was left with interest amounting to R20,000 per day. It was at this time that the then president Jannie le Roux was ousted by the clubs on 3 September 1984, and in his place came self-made millionaire Dr. Louis Luyt, a former provincial lock forward for the Orange Free State. Through the business acumen of Dr Luyt, the union was able to become financially stable once again. Dr Luyt saw an opportunity to use Ellis Park as a way for the union to cover its debt, and according to him, he used this asset as a means of renegotiating the unions’ debt with Volkskas Bank and the Johannesburg City Council.
In order to refinance the debt the union would relinquish control of Ellis Park, and control of the stadium would be taken by a new company called Ellis Park Stadium Incorporated (EPSI) on which Volkskas would have 6 board members, the City Council 3 members and the Louis Luyt group 3 members. Thus the rugby union had no representation on the board. The rugby union would however be contractually obliged to play all future matches at the venue, and would have first right over the use of Ellis Park. However, 20% of all gate receipts generated would be paid over to EPSI. However, Volkskas was not fond of this idea, and eventually took complete control over the stadium as a new company called Ellis Park Stadium Pty Ltd. According to Luyt the union would now be allowed to keep 25% of its gate revenue plus R100 000 of the advertising revenue. Luyt also managed to negotiate a clause stipulating that the rugby union had first right of refusal should Volkskas decide to sell the stadium in the future.
In 1987 the bank decided to sell the stadium to Johan Claassen (a former Springbok) for R26.5 million, but with the union having first right of refusal, Luyt started working along with First National Bank (FNB) to buy the stadium back for the union. At the time FNB wanted to rename the stadium First National Stadium, although the City Council was against this as they wanted the stadium to retain the name of their former city councilman who provided the area for the stadium. This is in stark contrast when the stadium name was sold to Coca-Cola in 2008. Eventually FNB provided the union with the finance needed to take control of the stadium. Luyt reduced the capacity of the stadium from 80 000 to 60 000 by adding 88 suites behind the two goal posts. His rationale for this was that the general public preferred to sit on the sides of the field, thus these seats were deemed economically unviable. However, companies were satisfied to have any suite in the stadium. Thus even when losing 20 000 seats, the union was able to generate a bigger income from this "dead space" of the stadium. Even before construction on the suites started, they were fully subscribed. The cost of building the suites were R4 million, and the revenue of selling these were R25 million. Even though seating was reduced the union was able to show a constant revenue stream because of the suites.
Eventually Luyt listed the stadium on the stock exchange, although this venture was unsuccessful. In spite of the unsuccessful stock exchange listing the union was able to repay all of its debt by 1993. Ellis Park was known as Coca-Cola Park between 2008 and 2012, although as one of the FIFA World Cup 2010 venues, for the period of the world cup, it was known as Ellis Park again. The stadium, and surrounding swimming arena and indoor sports arena, is run by Ellis Park World of Sport Pty Ltd, in which the GLRU has a stake.
Transvaal (1993–1995)
The Super 10 was a rugby union tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga, and Western Samoa. The competition ran for three years from 1993 to 1995 and was the predecessor of the Super 12 and Super 14, now known as Super Rugby. Transvaal won the competition in 1993 beating Auckland 20–17 at Ellis Park in the final after winning all four their pool games and were finalists again in 1995, losing to Queensland.
Transvaal/Gauteng Lions (1996–1997)
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 used the previous seasons Currie Cup to determine what provinces would play in the new international tournament. Transvaal played 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)
Cats logo.
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 home side 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 Cheetahs and the Western Force. The Cats finished in 13th place overall.
Lions (2006–2011)
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.[3][4]
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.[5] From 2011 to 2012 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.[6] In February 2011, the club signed Springbok fly-half Butch James[7] among other high-profile signings Lionel Mapoe, Pat Cilliers and Rory Kockott.[8]
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.[9] On 10 January 2013, the GLRU launched a schedule of 16 matches called the 2013 Lions Challenge Series. This series would begin on 19 January against Russia, and conclude on 20 July against Top 14 team Grenoble, to be followed by the Super Rugby promotion/relegation play-off.[10][11] 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."[11]
Several of the scheduled Lions Challenge games, including a proposed tour to the United States, never took place. Thus the idea of a Challenge Series was perceived to have failed. But despite not having the best lead up to the important Super Rugby promotion match-up with the Southern Kings later that year, the Lions ended up winning the two legged series. Thus they were promoted back into Super Rugby for 2014.
Resurgence: 2014–2018
Determined to establish themselves as a top team in Super Rugby, the Lions made wholesale changes to the team, including hiring Johan Ackermann and Swys de Bruin as main coaches, overhauling much of the playing squad, and adopting a much more open and fluid playing style.
The Lions returned to Super Rugby by defeating the Cheetahs in their first match back in the competition. They ended up winning 7 out of 16 matches and ended 12th, above the Reds, Cheetahs and Rebels.
The 2015 season brought even more success to the union as they won 9 out of 16 matches, including 3 out of 4 matches on tour to Australasia. The Lions lost out to a spot in the play-offs when they drew to the Stormers in their final group stage match.
The 2016 season was expanded to 18 teams with the Jaguares (Argentina), Sunwolves (Japan) and Southern Kings (South Africa) joining the competition. The Lions would start the season on tour beating the Sunwolves and Chiefs but losing to the Highlanders in the final game. The Lions would go on to win 11 out of 15 matches in the group stages to top the Africa 2 conference and top the Africa group and were awarded with their first conference trophy. They ended 2nd on the overall log and qualified for their first knockout match since being re-branded as the Lions. In the quarter-final they beat the Crusaders and the Highlanders in the semi-final to qualify for their first final since the current Super Rugby competition began in 1996. On 6 August they played in the final against The Hurricanes away from home with cold, wet and windy conditions that would favor the home team, as they lost 20–3.
In the 2017 season the Lions would get an easier draw, which meant they only had to face Australian teams and no New Zealand teams. With this advantage they would win 14 out of 15 matches, only losing one game away from home to the Jaguares due to sending another weaker team to Argentina. The Lions would not regret the decision as they would top the overall log to gain home advantage throughout the playoffs. The Lions would go on to beat the Sharks in the quarter-final and were tasked to face their first New Zealand opposition in the semi-final, the Hurricanes, whom they would defeat. The Lions became only the second South African franchise since the Bulls (2009, 2010) to qualify for back-to-back finals. They hosted the final at Emirates Airline Park against the Crusaders (setting the record for attendance at a Super Rugby final in the process), but lost 25–17 as they were forced to play much of the match short-handed after second-rower Kwagga Smith was sent off for a late tackle in the air. This was Ackermann's final game as head coach, having previously accepted a move to Aviva Premiership side Gloucester Rugby for 2017–18: de Bruin was promoted as his replacement for 2018.
The 2018 season produced a more mixed set of results for the team (W9, L7) but owing to the Super Rugby format at the time they still finished second on the overall table granting them a home Quarter-Final against the Jaguares (40–23) and Semi-final against the Waratahs (44–26). This saw them become the first South African team to qualify for 3 straight finals, this time away to the Crusaders. The game was comfortably won by the New Zealand side (37–18).
Super Rugby 2019–2020, Covid-19 Pandemic and Super Rugby Unlocked
The 2019 season would prove to be De Bruin's last season [12] and would also be the first season since 2015 in which the Lions would miss the play-off spot as they finished 9th on the table with an 8–8 record. The season started on a positive with a first win in Argentina but back to back derby defeats to the Bulls (12–30) and Stormers (19–17) would be an indicator of things to come. The team rebounded to win their next 3 games including overturning a 28 point defect against the Rebels before another home derby defeat to the Sharks (5–42) confirmed that the Lions were not the same side that made it to 3 successive finals. The following Australia/New Zealand tour would also produce a mixed bag of results with a solid win over the Chiefs (23–17), a game made controversial as the Lions management switched the starting and reserve hookers around just before kick-off, sandwiched between losses to the Brumbies (31–20) and the Crusaders (36–10). Back to back home victories against the Waratahs (29–28) and the Highlanders (38–29) gave the team a chance at the play-offs but they lost 3 of their last 4 games (Sharks, Hurricanes and Bulls) with a sole derby victory against the Stormers (41–22) their only consolation.
The 2020 season would be viewed as a reset as the continuous loss of star players over the previous 2 seasons (including the likes of Malcom Marx (2019), Franco Mostert (2019), Faf De Klerk (2017), Jaco Kriel(2017), Ruan Dreyer(2017), Rohan Janse Van Rensburg (2017) and Ruan Combrink (2019) as well as an injury forced retirement to captain Warren Whitley (2019), all of whom had been capped internationally) had slowly been taking a toll combined with a new coaching team headed by Ivan Van Rooyen.
The season started horribly with reverses to the Jaguares,Sormers and 3 losses on tour to the Waratahs,Blues and Rebels with only 1 victory against the Reds (27–20). The season was then called off owing to the Covid19 pandemic.[13]
Later in the year, SA Rugby would set up a South African only Super Rugby competition (Super Rugby Unlocked) with the Cheetahs,Pumas and Griquas all invited. The Lions would win 1 of their 4 completed games (with 2 games called off due to the Pandemic) and finished 5th.
URC and other European rugby (2021–present)
Rainbow Cup (2021)
In 2021, it was announced that the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and Lions would join the Pro14 (at the expense of the Cheetahs and Kings) with an intermediate tournament dubbed the Rainbow Cup was set up.[14]
The tournament would have 2 conferences, an SA only conference and a joint Irish-Scottish-Italian-Welsh conference with the winners to face each other in a one off final.
The Lions again only won 1 game (against the Bulls 34–33) and had a fixture against the Stormers cancelled owing to a Covid outbreak in the Lion's camp. The other 4 fixtures were lost and the Lions came last in the conference
United Rugby Championship (2021–present)
The inaugural URC season kicked off on the 24 September 2021 with the Lions travelling to Italian Club Zebre. The South African's powered their way to a 35–0 halftime lead and then survived a second half comeback to prevail 38–26. However the rest of the opening tour would be characteristic of the initial struggles of all 4 South African sides with the Lions going down to the Scarlets (36–13), Glasgow Warriors (13–9) and Ulster (26–10).
They did however recover to surprise the Stormers in Cape Town in the first round of derbies (37–18) leaving the Lions as the best placed South African side after 5 rounds. Their advantage then slipped after consecutive defeats to the Sharks (37–47) the Bulls (21–13 and 10–34), the reverse Stormers fixture (10–32) and their first game against Irish juggernauts Leinster (21–13). A 37–20 win over Cardiff snapped the losing streak and the Lions took advantage recording victories over Munster (23–21), the Ospreys (45–15) and Edinburgh (15–9) before suffering a 37–10 reverse against the Sharks which was followed by a first loss at Ellis Park to an overseas team in the URC when Connacht edged them 33–30. The Lions finished strongly recording victories over Benetton (37–29) and an away win against the Dragons (11–21) which saw the Lions finish 12th with an 8–10 record and qualify for the following seasons EPCR Challenge Cup.
The 2022/2023 season opened with a trans-Juskei derby which saw the Bulls emerge 31–15 winners, but the Lions then embarked on an unbeaten overseas tour defeating the Ospreys (27–28), Cardiff (18–31) and Edinburgh (19–22) before losing at home to Ulster (37–39). The Lions then had an unexpected break as their fixture against Glasgow was postponed. This was followed by another derby loss, this time against the Stormers with the Lions blowing a 22–10 halftime lead to go down 22–31. Victories against the Dragons (33–25) and the Scarlets (32–15) followed before there was more derby misery as the Lions went down to the Sharks (37-10) and the Stormers (40–8) over the festive period.
Another tour then took place but this time the Lions lost both their games against Munster (33–3) and Connacht (43–24) before going down to the Sharks (7–29) in their 5th derby reverse of the season. The Lions then dispatched Glasgow 35–24 in a rescheduled match before snapping their losing streak against SA opposition when they beat the Bulls 29–25 at Loftus after racing to an early 20–0 lead. An away victory at Benetton (28–32) was then followed by 2 rounds of double headers[15] with the Bulls, Leinster and Zebre with the Bulls playing Zebre and the Lions playing Leinster (a 36–39 loss against a weakened Leinster side) at Ellis Park which was followed by the Lions playing Zebre (a 50–35 victory) and the Bulls playing Leinster at Loftus in the final round of pool games. The improved performance saw the Lions miss out on a playoff spot by 3 points, finishing 9th behind the Sharks.
Challenge Cup (2022–present)
Location
They are based in New Doornfontein, Johannesburg, and have always been centred around the Lions union (Johannesburg), drawing players from that union since the inception of the competition as Super 12 in 1996.
Starting in 2006, they drew players from the Leopards (North West) and Pumas (Mpumalanga) unions, which previously were in the franchise areas of the Bulls.
From the start of 2017, they could only draw players from the Griquas (Northern Cape).
As of 2020, only players contracted by the Lions franchise were drawn.
Stadium
The Lions' home ground is Ellis Park Stadium (known for sponsorship reasons as Emirates Airline Park), named after an employee from the Johannesburg City Council, Mr JD Ellis, with whom the rugby union negotiated to acquire the land on which the stadium is built. Ellis Park has hosted a number of memorable matches including the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, which was played between the All Blacks and South Africa, which saw South Africa win the William Webb Ellis Cup for the first time.
↑ Before the 2020 season was cancelled, the Lions were sitting last in the South African Conference and thirteenth overall, with one win and five losses. They had negative ninety-one point difference (PF: 109, PA: 200), and had five match points in total.
United Rugby Championship (URC)
The following table summarises the Lions' results in their URC seasons:
1 Orange Free State have since been renamed to the Free State Cheetahs. 2 Northern Transvaal was renamed to the Blue Bulls. 3 The Falcons were originally known as Eastern Transvaal. 4 Griqualand West was renamed to Griquas.
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Current season 
