Lions announce contracted squad

What thinks Saffex!

Ex Supersport

Johannesburg - The Golden Lions Rugby Union has announced the final signings of players for the 2015 season.

The Lions had a decent 2014, winning seven Super Rugby matches and reaching the Currie Cup final, before narrowly losing to Western Province at Newlands.

The improvement in form will also see the union earn a new major sponsorship deal, expected to be announced later on Thursday.  (As I said I was hoping this would happen. Beeno's finger remains firmly on the pulse!)

The Lions will open their 2015 Super Rugby campaign at home to the Hurricanes on Friday, February 13.(Always noice to have an easy game to start with!)

Senior contracted players for 2015 - via the Lions'official website:

Justin Ackerman 
Fabian Booysen 
Marnitz Boshoff (Springboks 2014)
Andries Coetzee 
Robbie Coetzee (Springbok Touring Squad)
Ruan Combrink 
Ross Cronje (Springbok Touring Squad)
Ashlon Davids 
JJ de Kock 
Stefan de Witt 
Ruan Dreyer (Springbok Touring Squad)
JP du Plessis 
Damian Engledoe 
Lourens Erasmus 
JR Esterhuizen 
Selom Gavor 
Lambert Groenewald 
Stokkies Hanekom 
Deon Helberg 
Alwyn Hollenbach 
Lohan Jacobs 
Elton Jantjies 
Jaco Kriel (Springbok Touring Squad)
Ruaan Lerm 
Mb Lusaseni 
Lionel Mapoe 
Devon  Marthinus (On Loan to Leopards)
Sampie Mastriet 
Derek Minnie 
Howard Mnisi 
Franco Mostert 
Tyson Mulamba 
Martin Muller 
Jacques Nel 
Mark Pretorius 
Julian Redelinghuys (Springboks 2014)
Mark Richards 
Ricky Schroeder 
Courtnall Skosan 
Albertus Smith (SA Sevens)
Warwick Tecklenburg 
Armand van der Merwe 
Schalk van der Merwe 
Schalk van Heerden 
Ruan van Rensburg (On loan to Leopards)
Jacques Van Rooyen 
Ruan Venter 
Anthony Volminck 
Harold Vorster 
Willie Wepener 
Warren Whiteley (Springbok 2014/Springbok Sevens Gold Medal Commonwealth)
Vainon Willis 
Corne Fourie (On loan from Pumas)
Faf de Klerk (On loan from Pumas)
Rudi Matthee (On loan from Pumas)
Stefan Watermeyer (On loan from Pumas)
Obi Luther (On loan from Leopards)
Mahuza Sylvian (On loan from Leopards)
Robbertse Francois (On loan from Leopards)

Snapsteer is there a good lock amongst that lot. Mostert and muller are not too bad  but I would like  a nice solid lock in there with reasonable mobility.

Good luck to the Lions!  Are they the first to name their squad!!!

Sadly not, Mostert is their only quality lock. Ruan Venter played for the Baby Boks a few years ago, is a big lump but is always out injured.

They needed to find themselves a partner for Mostert

Good to see Obi in the squad, he was the other wing in the Baby Bok side that Senatla was in and was also very impressive.  

Well they have Ruan Venter who is 22, 1.98m and 120kg. He is a hard nut but injury prone......if he can stay fit he and Mostert would make a useful pair.

The only other lock in the squad that we don't know much about is Lourens Erasmus, who is 21, 2m and 115kg, so has good size but I don't know anything about him.

Its a very young squad with plenty to work with.

Where is that classy young 10 that played in the CC, ended up at 15.....did not see his name there  

Johannesburg - The Lions on Thursday official announced their partnership with global airlines company Emirates.

According to the Lions’ official website, it is a five-year sponsorship agreement.

The agreement will see Emirates become the title sponsor of the Lions Super Rugby team and have naming rights to the Lions home ground Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

The announcement was made at a media conference by Orhan Abbas, Emirates Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations for Latin America, Southern and Central Africa, and Rudolf Straeuli, the CEO of the Golden Lions Rugby Union.

Starting from January 1, 2015, the Lions will become known as the Emirates Lions, and the familiar “Fly Emirates” logo will adorn the match and training jerseys of the team for the next five years.

Ellis Park, will be named Emirates Airline Park. The agreement also includes in-stadia hospitality as well as a number of other marketing rights and activities.

“Emirates is a strong champion of rugby worldwide and South Africa is one of the top rugby playing nations with very passionate supporters. We are therefore delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor one of the country’s most popular and established teams. It’s the first major sponsorship by Emirates of a South African team, and this will certainly raise the visibility of the Emirates brand not just here, but also in our key markets of New Zealand and Australia where the Super Rugby competition is played, and a number of other markets in which the games are televised,” said Abbas.

“Our new association with the Lions enables us to be part of Ellis Park, which is an historical and famous venue in the country, most notably for hosting the Rugby World Cup final in 1995 which South Africa won. This was the same year in which Emirates first started operations to the country, and today we enable trade and provide connections for South Africans from Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg to Dubai and beyond to our network of more than 140 destinations around the world,” he added.

“At the Golden Lions Rugby Union we pride ourselves on growth and performance. We are thus thrilled to partner with Emirates – a world-leader in its field who is constantly looking to expand and develop. We are tremendously grateful to Emirates for their support and belief. It is wonderful to have financial stability, as a result of the support from this international, iconic brand, over the next five years,” said Straeuli. (Fine player , coach and now administrator)

“We are looking forward to working closely together in not only developing rugby at grassroots level in both South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, but also expanding the game of rugby across the globe. As 2015 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Springboks’ 1995 Rugby World Cup win at Ellis Park, it is exciting for us to have secured Emirates as a stadium sponsor from next year. We know that we will share many more happy memories, alongside Emirates, at this hallowed ground,” he added.

The Lions kick off their 2015 Super Rugby campaign on Friday, February 13, 2015, when they take on the WEE  Hurricanes of New Zealand at Emirates Airline Park.