TEN MOMENTS

10. THE FIRST LOSS TO ZEBRE. Not a moment to celebrate, but the season does not make sense without it. September 2025, Parma, and a defeat that had never happened before in the club's history. Everything that followed is measured against it.

9. THE SCARLETS AT ELLIS PARK, 18 OCTOBER. A home win by eleven points that looked ordinary at the time and turned out to be the hinge of the campaign.

8. CONNACHT AND ULSTER BEATEN IN JOHANNESBURG. The unglamorous middle of the home run, and the matches that turned a good Ellis Park record into an intimidating one.

7. EDINBURGH 54-17. A second Scottish visitor put to the sword, and confirmation that Glasgow had not been a one-off.

6. GLASGOW WARRIORS 54-12. Forty-two points against a side that would reach the URC semi-finals. The most complete eighty minutes of the Lions' league campaign.

5. LEADING 20-10 IN PERPIGNAN. The European campaign ended in that stadium, but a Lions side leading a winner-takes-all pool match away from home with fifteen minutes to play was evidence of something that had not existed in September.

4. THE SHARKS 34-22, 21 FEBRUARY. A bonus-point derby win in a rescheduled fixture that kept the Shield alive. Without it, Round 12 decides nothing.

3. QUALIFICATION FOR THE INVESTEC CHAMPIONS CUP. Confirmed by the top-eight finish. The first time in the club's history that the Lions will play in Europe's premier competition.

2. THE QUARTER-FINAL IN DUBLIN. Lost, and lost to the eventual champions — but a first URC play-off match after four campaigns of falling short.

1. LIONS 24 STORMERS 10, ROUND 12. Two tries in twenty minutes, a 14-0 lead, and the South African Shield in Johannesburg for the first time.