What the Lions Won in 2025/26
A first Shield, a first URC quarter-final, and qualification for the biggest club competition in the northern hemisphere.
THE SOUTH AFRICAN SHIELD. The Lions finished top of the South African Shield table for the first time since the URC introduced regional shields in 2021. It was secured in Round 12 with a 24-10 win over the Stormers at Ellis Park, and it is the first piece of URC silverware to come to Johannesburg.
A URC QUARTER-FINAL. Seventh on the combined log with 54 points from eighteen matches — ten wins, one draw, seven defeats — and a first appearance in the URC play-offs. In four previous campaigns the Lions had finished twelfth, ninth, ninth and eleventh. The quarter-final was lost away to Leinster, who went on to win the title.
CHAMPIONS CUP QUALIFICATION. The top-eight finish delivered something the club had never had: a place in the Investec Champions Cup. The Lions enter Europe's premier club competition for the first time in 2026/27, drawn in Pool 2 alongside Toulouse, Saracens, La Rochelle, Exeter Chiefs and Connacht.
THE NUMBERS BEHIND IT. 532 points scored, 473 conceded, a positive differential of 59. Seventy-three tries scored across the league campaign against seventy conceded. Nine try bonus points and three losing bonus points — evidence of a side that attacked when ahead and stayed in matches when behind.
ELLIS PARK. Eight wins from nine at home, 336 points scored and 209 conceded in Johannesburg. Home form was not a contributing factor to the season. It was the season.
Four URC campaigns without a play-off. In the fifth, a Shield, a quarter-final and a Champions Cup place.
- 01The South African Shield, won for the first time in the club's history.
- 02Francke Horn led the side in the URC and in Europe.