First Caps and Landmarks

THE CLUB'S FIRSTS. A first South African Shield. A first URC play-off appearance in five seasons in the competition. A first qualification for the Investec Champions Cup. Three landmarks in a single campaign, none of which the club had previously reached.

BATHOBELE HLEKANI. Debut for the Lions on 10 January 2026, having arrived from the Sharks. Player of the match in that first appearance — as clean a debut as a professional career offers. He finished the season with a South Africa A cap, added to two South Africa Under-18 caps and sixteen at Under-20.

HAASHIM PEAD. A World Rugby Under-20 Championship winner with South Africa in 2025 and player of the match in the final, converting that into a senior URC season largely from the bench.

RICHARD KRIEL. Reached fifty appearances for the Lions during the campaign.

MORNÉ VAN DEN BERG AND QUAN HORN. Both Springboks, both products of the Lions system, both playing at Ellis Park through a season that ended in a quarter-final. Van den Berg holds five Test caps, five Test tries and twenty points.

JC PRETORIUS. An Olympic bronze medallist with the Blitzboks at Paris 2024, playing fifteens for the Lions across the campaign.

THE WIDER PICTURE. More than forty players were used across three competitions. For a squad of this size carrying a URC season, a European campaign and a Currie Cup programme simultaneously, that depth was not a luxury. It was the condition of getting through the year.