The Fidelity Securedrive Lions had the weekend of their dreams, as they not only entrenched themselves in the top eight of the competition, but found a new sponsor and also took home their first title since South Africa’s entry into European competitions.
The under-performing Lions claimed the South African shield - the conference title that is played out in each of the five territories under the banner of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship - and gave their long-suffering supporters something to shout about after years of pain.
The turnaround in the past few weeks has been remarkable. The Lions have always had the talent, but have so often been felled by their own inconsistency. Their lack of self belief has become as much of a hindrance as anything the opposition could throw at them.
The Fidelity SecureDrive Lions are confirmed winners of the SA Shield 🇿🇦🏆#VURC | #SSRugby pic.twitter.com/EzMtHRVvU8
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) February 28, 2026
But somehow, in two weeks they have turned what seemed to be another campaign destined for a mediocre ending into something that can now be magical, even if they don’t go all the way in the tournament.
BULLS WIN GAVE LIONS THE TITLE
Their wins over the Hollywoodbets Sharks last weekend and DHL Stormers this weekend was enough to clinch the title, especially when added to their win over the Sharks in December in Durban and their shock win over the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria in November.
As the Bulls put on a masterful performance in Pretoria to take apart the Sharks and increase their woes this weekend, the Lions sat back after their win over the Stormers to smile and celebrate. A trophy was in the bag, something almost unheard of at Ellis Park.
Considering this side had not won more than 40 per cent of their matches under coach Ivan van Rooyen in six long years and had consistently missed out on qualification for the top eight in all of them, the turnaround has been remarkable.
And it all came thanks to their Jukskei neighbours, whose demolition job at Ellis Park a number of weeks ago forced a hard reset in the Lions camp.
The Lions had approached that game with confidence, hoping to do the double over their more illustrious neighbours, but were on the back foot from the start, and were pummelled up front, conceding more than fifty points in a very one-sided match.
CHANGE WAS NEEDED
Defence coach Jaque Fourie spoke about it earlier in the week. The coaches watched their team getting taken apart and realising things had to change. The same old status quo was heading them in the same direction. Loads of promise, but very few results.
Those conversations were hard ones when the team regrouped the following Monday. They were good on attack, but passive in defence. They were having slumps during the game and they were allowing opposition to dictate proceedings.
The honest conversations reaffirmed their belief that they were on the right track, but some things needed to change.
While the Lions haven’t opened up to what exactly those changes were, they certainly made the difference.
Cynics may argue they faced two teams low on confidence and struggling with their own demons this season and there may be more than an element of truth in this. But as the old saying goes, you can only play what is in front of you.
And in the Lions’ case it was their own demons they needed to get over first.
After the Stormers win - a game they raced to a 14-0 lead and continued to lead to the final whistle - coach Van Rooyen was a happy man, and couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
MENTAL SHIFT THE BIG DIFFERENCE
He credited the shift over the past month - especially mentally - as the key for the Lions turnaround.
“I think I said it last week. That is where we grew the most over the last month. To be mentally in the fight, to be in the moment, and the senior players driving the game forward hard. What is necessary in the next set and what is needed in the next five sets. I am incredibly proud of how hard they worked, stayed in the moment. At one stage we were down to 13 and we almost scored. I’m incredibly proud of the guys.”
Van Rooyen added that winning derbies was a massive focus for the team.
“We felt we didn’t win enough of them in the last two, three seasons. We talked a lot about it in the pre-season that we need to be more consistent against South African teams. As I told the television guys, there isn’t a better feeling than South African derbies. I’m incredibly proud.”
Van Rooyen said the mindset in the side had changed significantly.
"The mindset from our side does feel different. In the past we would say we were good enough in one or two moments. Currently we’re finding ways in the game to swing it our way,” he said.
“I haven’t even checked the possession stats, but it feels like we had to defend four times more.To do that against world-class players, under that pressure, makes me unbelievably proud.
OPPORTUNITY
“The biggest lesson we’ve learnt the last two, three weeks is that every game presents a different opportunity, and we’ve grown immensely in terms of mindset and looking for opportunities.
“The intense pressure is the reason why there are errors. Our set piece didn’t really operate today like we feel we can and want to. We showed immense defensive effort in the last 20 minutes.
“Our body height was a lot better the last few weeks, and that is why we managed to stop momentum.
“This should be our new standard, whether it is attack or defence,” he added.
The Lions next opponent will be Edinburgh on March 20 and they have three home games after that before ending the regular season off in Ireland against Leinster and Munster.