Lions

The Lions, who are officially known as the Emirates Lions for sponsorship purposes, are a rugby union side who are based in Johannesburg and played in Super Rugby until the 2020 season. Also known as the Cats between the 1998 and 2005 seasons, the team had a chequered history with the competition. Although they finished bottom of the table six times, they also reached the semi-finals five times and the final three times. Sadly though, they lost on all three occasions.

Read on to discover even more about the Lions Rugby side. On this page you'll find a detailed history of the team as well as their upcoming fixtures and latest result

The Lions have existed as a rugby union franchise since 1998, when SA Rugby changed the Currie Cup qualification process for the Super 12 and created provincial franchises. However, the team had also previously existed as both Transvaal and the Gauteng Lions.

As a result, for the 1998 season of the Super 12, the Lions Rugby team entered the tournament for the first time as the Cats. Although the team found success in the 2000 and 2001 editions of the tournament when they reached the semi-final stages, they regularly finished at the bottom end of the table.

When the Super 12 was expanded to become the Super 14 for the 2006 season, the team rebranded as the Lions. However, the team continued to struggle. For the five seasons the tournament was known as the Super 14, the Lions finished no higher than 12th.

In 2011, a change to the Super Rugby format failed to bring a change of luck for the Lions Rugby team and they continued to finish in the bottom two. As a result, a vote was held and the Lions were relegated from the competition in 2013 and instead played in the Lions Challenge Series. At the end of this series, they then played a two-legged playoff for a Super Rugby place. They won this and the team's fortunes were transformed.

The Lions Rugby team returned to Super Rugby as a rejuvenated side and regularly began to compete. In fact, in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the side even reached the final of the competition. However, they lost on all three occasions.

Sadly, when the coronavirus pandemic halted the 2020 edition of Super Rugby, South African sides withdrew from the competition due to travel restrictions. Although the Lions Rugby team played in the Super Rugby Unlocked tournament in 2020, the team will now participate in Northern Hemisphere competitions from 2021 onwards when they will play in the newly-formed PRO14 Rainbow Cup before taking part in an expanded PRO16 tournament.

Although the Lions Rugby team were not successful in their early years in the competition, several international stars such as Francois Pienaar and André Vos both played for and captained the side.

In recent years, the side's success has meant that several stars have represented the Lions Rugby team, including prop Jannie du Plessis, fly-half Elton Jantjies and loose forward Willem Alberts.