Name

Lions

heart off icon (0 users)


Badge
team badge

Next Event (28 Feb)
calendar next Lions vs Stormers

Manager
None Found...


League Position


Recent League Form ➡


Established
1996 (30 years old)

Sport
Sport Icon Rugby

Venue
team thumb icon
Emirates Airline Park

(62,567 Capacity)

Former Names
None Add some?

Equipment Clearart
no equipment thumb
Archive

Primary Colours

Location
Johannesburg

Nicknames

Competitions
United Rugby Championship
European Rugby Challenge Cup

Last Edit
curswine: 07/Jul/25
Logo
team logo

Upcoming
tiny league badge icon 28 Feb Lions tiny home badge icon 12:30pm tiny away badge icon Stormers
tiny league badge icon 21 Mar Lions tiny home badge icon 12:45pm tiny away badge icon Edinburgh
tiny league badge icon 28 Mar Lions tiny home badge icon 2:30pm tiny away badge icon Dragons
tiny league badge icon 18 Apr Lions tiny home badge icon 1:45pm tiny away badge icon Glasgow
tiny league badge icon 25 Apr Lions tiny home badge icon 2:00pm tiny away badge icon Connacht

Results
tiny league badge icon 31 Jan Lions tiny home badge icon 17 - 52 tiny away badge icon Bulls
tiny league badge icon 23 Jan Ospreys tiny home badge icon 24 - 24 tiny away badge icon Lions
tiny league badge icon 17 Jan USA Perpi tiny home badge icon 20 - 20 tiny away badge icon Lions
tiny league badge icon 10 Jan Lions tiny home badge icon 42 - 33 tiny away badge icon Lyon OU
tiny league badge icon 03 Jan The Shark tiny home badge icon 22 - 23 tiny away badge icon Lions

Description british english flag icon
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 who competed in the Super Rugby competition until 2020. They were previously known as the Cats between the 1998 and 2006 seasons. They had varied results in the competition, 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 – and repeated the feat in 2017, losing 17–25 to the Crusaders in Johannesburg. The team reached their 3rd consecutive final in 2018 when they lost against the Crusaders 38–17 in Christchurch. 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.

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.

During the 2016 Super Rugby season play-offs, the Lions defeated the South Island teams (Crusaders and Highlanders) to reach the championship final, in which they were defeated 20-3 by the Hurricanes.
wiki icon creative commons icon

Team Members


percentage bar = Player Contract years remaining

Showing 0 to 54 (Total: 54)




Trophies search icon


Collections
None found...


Fanart
no fanartno fanartno fanartno fanart

Banner transparent spacer team banner

Other Links
facebook icon
Facebook
webpage icon
Website
instagram icon
Instagram
youtube icon
Youtube