Lions (rugby franchise)

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Lions
Founded	1996
Union	South African Rugby Union
Location	Johannesburg, South Africa
Region	Johannesburg North West Mpumalanga
Ground	Ellis Park
Capacity	60,000
Coach	Eugene Eloff
Captain	Wikus van Heerden
League	Super 14
2006	11th
Home colours		Away colours

The Lions, known as the Cats through the 2006 season, are a South African rugby union team competing in the Super 14 competition. They have not achieved great success in the Super 12 competition, finishing on the bottom of the table three times, with their best performances being in 2000 and 2001, when they reached the semi-finals. The current team captain is flank Wikus Van Heerden.

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 November 16, 2006, the financially troubled Spears abandoned their case, ensuring the Lions a place in the competition for the foreseeable future.^[1]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Transvaal/Lions 1.2 Cats 1.3 Lions 2 Location 3 Stadium 4 Current squad 5 Season standings 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Transvaal/Lions

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.

[edit] Cats

For the 1998 season SA Rugby changed the Currie Cup qualfication 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 Ellis Park.

The first season of the new South African franchises did not spell much success for the Cats, who won just two of their regular season games, and finished at the bottom of the table. The following season was not much better for the Cats, finishing second last by the end of the season, above fellow South African team, the Bulls.

After spending two seasons around the bottom of the table the Cats made a drastic turn around in form in the 2000 season. After defeating the Bulls in Pretoria in the opening round, they went onto defeat 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 to nil 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 points to three 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 to 24, and then crushing the Highlanders 56 to 21, as well as narrowly losing a reply of last season's semi-final against the Brumbies, 17 to 19. 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 to 12 to the Sharks.

However, after two seasons of success, qualifying for the finals in both 2001 and 2001, the Cats finished second last in 2002, and then last in 2003, and 2004. They finished 11th in 2005, winning just the one game, and drawing one other. 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.

[edit] Lions

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.^[2]

[edit] Location

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.

[edit] Stadium

The Lions' homeground is at the Ellis Park Stadium, usually known as just Ellis Park. 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.

[edit] Current squad

See also: SARugby.net

Roland Bernard Delarey Du Preez Grant Esterhuizen Jaque Fourie Gordon Gifillan Petrus Grobbelaar Trevor Hall Altenstadt Hulme Wylie Human Marius Hurter Conrad Jantjes Ricky Januarie

Ernst Joubert Wayne Julies Gideon la Grange Jannes Labuschagne Gerhard Mostert Daniel Muller Jorrie Muller André Pretorius Lawrence Sephaka Albertus Smit Tiaan Snyman Willem Stoltz

Dewey Swartbooi Kleinjan Tromp Lukas van Heerden James van der Walt Wikus van Heerden Pieter van Niekerk Jano Vermaak Dave von Hoesslin Gerhard Vosloo Frederik Wepener Ashwin Willemse Russel Winter

[edit] Season standings

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

[edit] References

1. ^ Spears abandon their Super conquest. Planet Rugby (2006-11-16). Retrieved on 2006-11-22.
2. ^ From Cats to Lions ... the new look. Planet Rugby (2006-09-08). Retrieved on 2006-09-12.

[edit] External links

• CatsRugby.co.za
• Data and Statistics itsrugby.com