| Union | South African Rugby Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 | ||
| Location | Johannesburg, South Africa | ||
| Region | Johannesburg North West Mpumalanga |
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| Ground(s) | Ellis Park Stadium (Capacity: 59,611) | ||
| Coach(es) | John Mitchell | ||
| Captain(s) | Doppies La Grange | ||
| League(s) | Super Rugby | ||
| 2011 | 14th | ||
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| Official website | |||
| www.lionsrugby.co.za | |||
The Lions, known as the Cats between the 1998 and 2006 seasons, are a South African rugby union franchise that competes in the Super Rugby competition. From 2011 they are known as the MTNLions for sponsorship reasons. They have not achieved great success in this competition, finishing at the bottom of the table five times (in 1998, 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2010). However, they have managed to reach the semifinal stage twice (in 2000 and 2001). The current team captain is lock Franco van der Merwe.
The Lions play in a red and white strip. For a time, the team faced relegation from the Super 14 after the Southern Spears won a court ruling that they be included in the competition in place of the lowest ranked South African team in the 2006 competition. [1] 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, ensuring the Lions a place in the competition for the foreseeable future.[1]
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.[2]
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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.
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 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, another 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.
On 8 September 2006, the Golden Lions Rugby Union, the company that operates 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]
In February 2011, the club signed Springbok fly-half Butch James [6] amongst other high profile signings Lionel Mapoe, Pat Cilliers and Rory Kockott.[7]
They are based in 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. Currently, they also draw players from the Leopards (North West) and Pumas (Mpumalanga) unions. Through 2005, the Cats drew from the two unions based in Free State—the Free State Cheetahs (Bloemfontein) and Griffons (Welkom)—and the Griquas (Northern Cape), but that arrangement ended when the Central Cheetahs became South Africa's new Super 14 franchise.
The Cheetahs now draw their players from Free State, Griffons and Griquas, while the Leopards and Pumas were moved from the franchise area of the Bulls to that of the Cats. Prior to 1998, the Cats (more accurately, the Golden Lions) competed in the then-Super 12 as Transvaal, as South Africa then sent its top four unions to the Super 12 instead of franchises, and Transvaal qualified both years.
The Lions' home ground is Coca-Cola Park, also known by its non-sponsored name of Ellis Park Stadium or more commonly as just Ellis Park, named after the creator of Rugby William Webb Ellis. The stadium is in Johannesburg. Ellis Park hosted a number of matches at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, including the final, which was played out between the All Blacks and South Africa, which saw South Africa win the William Webb Ellis Cup in an emotional final.
Unless otherwise indicated, all players are considered by the IRB to be South African.
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| Season | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | BP | Pts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 10th | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 228 | 299 | -71 | 4 | 16 | As Transvaal |
| 1997 | 5th | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 302 | 346 | -44 | 6 | 28 | As Gauteng Lions (Transvaal) |
| 1998 | 12th | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 266 | 346 | -80 | 7 | 15 | |
| 1999 | 11th | 11 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 312 | 341 | -29 | 6 | 22 | |
| 2000 | 4th | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 320 | 334 | -14 | 4 | 32 | Lost semi-final to ACT Brumbies |
| 2001 | 3rd | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 285 | 244 | +41 | 6 | 34 | Lost semi-final to Sharks |
| 2002 | 11th | 11 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 217 | 370 | -153 | 2 | 6 | |
| 2003 | 12th | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 259 | 398 | -139 | 4 | 12 | |
| 2004 | 12th | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 294 | 459 | -165 | 7 | 11 | |
| 2005 | 11th | 11 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 226 | 326 | -100 | 7 | 13 | |
| 2006 | 13th | 13 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 220 | 405 | -185 | 5 | 15 | |
| 2007 | 12th | 13 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 175 | 284 | -109 | 2 | 22 | |
| 2008 | 14th | 13 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 206 | 367 | -161 | 2 | 12 | |
| 2009 | 12th | 13 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 294 | 419 | -125 | 9 | 25 | |
| 2010 | 14th | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 270 | 585 | -315 | 5 | 5 | |
| 2011 | 14th | 16 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 351 | 477 | -126 | 7 | 29 |
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