The Safari Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held in Nairobi , Kenya . The Safari Sevens is open to international representative sides, professional and amateur clubs, invitational teams, university and school teams.
78-720: Initially held at the RFUEA Ground , home of the Kenya Rugby Union , the tournament was moved to the Nyayo National Stadium in 2010 and 2011 and then held in the 60,000 seat Moi International Sports Centre from 2012 through 2017. Due to declining spectators and sponsor interest, the event was moved back to the RFUEA in 2018. Since the earliest days, rugby in Kenya had relied on a regular influx of foreign touring sides in order to test
156-411: A clause stipulating that the rugby union had first right of refusal should Volkskas decide to sell the stadium in the future. In 1987 the bank decided to sell the stadium to Johan Claassen (a former Springbok) for R26.5 million, but with the union having first right of refusal, Luyt started working along with First National Bank (FNB) to buy the stadium back for the union. At the time FNB wanted to rename
234-549: A few occasions, but always seemed to fail at the final hurdle losing the final in 1974, 1986, 1987, 1991 and 1992. Finally however, under the guidance of Kitch Christie as head coach and Francois Pienaar as captain, the side was able to win the Currie Cup in 1993 with a 21–15 victory over Natal in Durban. Memorably, Uli Schmidt (hooker) scored the winning try after chasing down a kick. The union repeated their success in 1994 by beating
312-538: A former provincial lock forward for the Orange Free State. Through the business acumen of Dr Luyt, the union was able to become financially stable once again. Dr Luyt saw an opportunity to use Ellis Park as a way for the union to cover its debt, and according to him, he used this asset as a means of renegotiating the unions’ debt with Volkskas Bank and the Johannesburg City Council. In order to refinance
390-399: A large increase in crowds numbers. In 2004 the first women's team played in the tournament. In 2005 Fijian rugby great, Waisale Serevi played for Kenya A (Shujaa) as a guest player. Since then the tournament attracted the likes of London Irish , Emerging Springboks , Fiji , Japan , Western Province , Argentina , Golden Lions , Belgium Barbarians . The tournament has attracted
468-748: A new style was implemented, and the Lions won their first Currie Cup title in 12 years. In December 2012 the Union appointed Manie Booysen as new CEO. He replaced Ruben Moggee, who had served as interim CEO for fourteen months. Before the 2013 Currie Cup the Lions lost a lot players due to the Lions franchise being relegated from the Super Rugby competition in 2013. The team had to rebuild again with new players, new head coach Johan Ackermann , new CEO Rudolf Straeuli and President Kevin De Klerk . With their new style of rugby that
546-479: A particular focus for their campaign. In November 2009 Dick Muir, former Sharks head coach and current Springboks backline coach, was appointed Director of Rugby – a task encompassing looking after the unions rugby structures as well as taking control of the Auto and General Super 14 Lions as head coach. Coetzee and former Springbok lock, Johan Ackerman were appointed as his assistants. In 2011 under new coach John Mitchell,
624-484: A section of "rugby diehards" for myriad reasons including the distance of the grandstands to the playing field amongst other factors. This mattered little as a massive marketing and publicity campaign fronted by title sponsors Safaricom drew in crowds to the Kasarani venue. It is estimated there were an approximate 48000 fans in the stadium on 21 September 2013, the first day of the tournament which featured quality sides in
702-559: A seven-a-side tournament and invite a number of foreign national and club teams to participate. Robin Cahill (a founder member of the society and the man whose brainchild the tournament is) led a team of Patrons to run all the early competitions and oversee its integration into the Kenya Rugby Union 's calendar. The trophy, a bronze of two elephants, is named in his memory. The inaugural tournament took place in 1996, Public School Wanderers , who had supported Kenyan rugby for many years, brought
780-625: A strong squad as did the Welsh Exiles (a team managed by the Welsh Rugby Union to nurture Wales qualified players living outside of the Principality ) captained by future Welsh International captain, Colin Charvis . The tournament also included several international teams ( Arabian Gulf , Kenya , Uganda and Zimbabwe ) as well as Selkirk RFC and a Cumbria Schoolboys team. The chairman of
858-539: A thrilling final. A list of results for all tournaments. a. In 2000 Kenya won the right to host the Africa Zone Qualifying Tournament for the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens Finals. Rather than cancel the Safari Sevens they combined both events into a three-day festival. The Kenya sevens side did not therefore take part in the Safari Sevens; Shujaa the Kenya 'A' side carried the hopes of
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#1733085815647936-411: A variety of international rugby players and coaches including Naas Botha in 1999, Waisale Serevi and Gordon Tietjens . The 13th edition of the Safari Sevens saw a rise in the gate fee of KSh200 per person to KSh800, in addition the weather was colder than usual but this did not produce any reduction in the crowds. The spectators included Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi (who presented
1014-401: A venue that just a year earlier had attracted over 70000 fans over two days. Poor attendance returned to haunt the tournament in 2016 and it is envisaged that the Kenya Rugby Union and its partners will work to woo the fans back to the tournament either via a venue change or a deliberate and aggressive marketing campaign while attracting quality international sides and introducing prize money to
1092-760: Is governed by the Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU), and was originally known as Transvaal (after Transvaal Province ), before changes to the political landscape in South Africa forced a name change to the Gauteng Lions, before again being changed to the Golden Lions. The GLRU also operates the associated United Rugby Championship franchise Lions , which also draw players from Griquas . The Transvaal Rugby Football Union, with its headquarters in Johannesburg,
1170-745: Is higher than three of the four vaunted stadia of South Africa's highveld ; Loftus Versfeld Stadium Pretoria at 1,214 metres (3,983 ft), the Free State Stadium Bloemfontein 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) and Royal Bafokeng Stadium Rustenburg 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). Only Ellis Park in Johannesburg at 1,750 metres (5,740 ft) is higher. In the early days of rugby in East Africa , when major games were to be staged and larger than normal crowds were expected, Parklands Sports Club (the then home of Nondescripts RFC ) served as
1248-606: Is named, was a lifetime member of the Transvaal Rugby Football Union. According to a Lions tale – 120 years of the red and white, Versfeld died of a heart attack at Ellis Park in 1932 when he attended a match between Transvaal and the Free State. The union has undergone several name changes in recent years – first changing its name to the Lions in 1993, the Gauteng Lions in 1997, before finally changing to The Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) in 1998. The GLRU competes in
1326-404: Is unsure when the union decided to switch over to a white jersey with a red hoop with black shorts and socks. There is also a school of thought that the union adopted the famous Kilmarnock strip of white top with red hoop as a Kilmarnock member, Alex Frew , captained them when they beat The British Isles touring team in 1903. These colours are still in use today. It is also from these colours that
1404-573: The British Lions on 28 September 1955. It attracted a gate (with borrowed seating) of 6,000 and J.A.E. Siggins , the manager of the Lions, was given the honour of opening the ground in the presence of His Excellency Sir Evelyn Baring , the Governor of Kenya . In October 2009 the Rugby Patrons Society donated KSh. 1.2 million/= (equal to £10,600 stg. , € 11,800 or US$ 16,000) to
1482-660: The HSBC Sevens World Series won the last tournament to be played at Nyayo, defeating the Kenya Morans coached by Mike Friday 21-17. When the Kenya Rugby Union revealed that the 2013 tournament would be held at the 60,000 seater Safaricom Stadium located at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, located in the Northern Suburbs of Nairobi, this announcement was met with skepticism by
1560-504: The KRFU thus providing 60% of the funds required to sink a borehole in order to ensure that the pitch can be maintained in excellent condition. Then on 29 May 2010, the Safaricom foundation gave KSh.13.2 million/= (equal to £123,000 stg., €143,000 or US$ 177,000) to the KRFU for the rehabilitation and expansion of the ground to seat an additional 1,500 people on a brand new terrace on
1638-407: The Kenya Rugby Union , applied and won the right to host the Africa Zone Qualifying Tournament for the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens Finals. This qualification competition was combined with the 2000 tournament to make it into a longer 3 day festival of rugby rather than cancel the Safari Sevens. The Kenya sevens side did not therefore take part in the Safari Sevens; Shujaa the Kenya 'A' side carried
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#17330858156471716-661: The Orange Free State by 56–35 in Bloemfontein . This was however not the end of the union's success. They also managed to win the 1993 Super 10 with a 20–17 win over Auckland from New Zealand in Johannesburg – thus making the union the first South African team to win a trans-national title. In 1995 Transvaal reached the final of the Super 10 again but lost to the Australian Queensland . The union also managed to scalp
1794-486: The 10-acre (40,000 m ) plot of bundu (rough ground) adjacent to the Ngong Road. Individuals and clubs donated money and sweepstakes and dances were held by the member clubs in order to raise further funds. Life seats were also sold that entitle the holders to free entry to all rugby union matches at the ground, and a seat in the central section of the main stand, for life. Additionally a 10-year loan of £7,500 stg.
1872-502: The 1993 and 1994 M-Net night series, a pre-season warm up competition. It was also during the 1993 season that the team managed to go on an unbeaten run of 19 games (18 wins, 1 draw). The Lions won the Currie Cup again in 1999 when they beat the Sharks 32–9 in Durban, and were on the losing side in the 2002 and 2007 finals. They ended their 12-year trophy drought in 2011, beating the Sharks 42–16 in
1950-579: The 35,000 seater Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi for the 2011 and 2012 edition. The rationale for the venue shift was the exponential rise in crowd numbers, and the RFUEA's inability to host such crowds. Former World Rugby Sevens Series champions Samoa returned for the 2011 edition, winning the tournament for a second time with a 31-12 win over Samurai Sevens. South Africa Sevens Elite Player Development (EPD) squad which featured Justin Geguld who would later play on
2028-525: The Cats in 2006, but finally rebranded themselves as the Super 14 Lions in 2007. Midway through 2008, Prof. Jannie Fereirra was replaced by former Lions and Springbok lock Kevin de Klerk as president of the GLRU. Throughout the 2000s attendances at Ellis Park has been on the downslide, with the team's performances following a similar course. With the rise of the Sharks, Blue Bulls and to a lesser extent Western Province, and
2106-685: The Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup competitions under the sponsorship name of Xerox Golden Lions. The GLRU served as the main feeder union for the Lions , in Super Rugby , and since 2021 in the United Rugby Championship, which also encompass the Pumas and the Leopards , although very few of their players have been historically selected. The Golden Lions and Lions share the same home stadium, Ellis Park , located in
2184-501: The Kenya A sevens team ( Shujaa ) and University of Paris also took part. Bristol University Select (a team put together from Bristol University , Clifton RFC and the professional Guinness Premiership side Bristol ) returned to take part in the Safari Sevens yet again; they have participated in every Safari Sevens ever staged. Kenya won the competition beating the Emerging Boks in the final, 31–12. The continued increase in
2262-536: The Ngong Road side of the ground. The Kenya Rugby Football Union plans to purchase an adjacent plot, the Unga grounds, so that the stadium can be expanded to accommodate 20,000 people with state-of-the-art facilities. It is the intention of the Ground Development Committee to create a venue that will enable Kenya to host a major International Rugby Board event in the near future. a. The RFUK
2340-822: The RFUEA ground has another parallel with Twickenham Stadium in the United Kingdom in that it also serves as the home ground for the Kenya Harlequin Football Club , just as their sister club the London Harlequins once played at Twickenham. Many internationally renowned teams have played here including the British Lions ( 1955 & 1962 ), the Barbarians (1958), the Springboks (1961) and Wales ( 1964 ). The 2009 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy took place on this site (with some games also being played on
2418-517: The RFUEA, that renting facilities was not ideal and, in the long term, would cost more money and provide fewer options than would ownership of a dedicated facility. Indeed, the idea that East African rugby should have its own ground and headquarters was first put forward in 1930 and these early plans even went as far as identifying and inspecting a parcel of land in the Westlands area of Nairobi . Records do not indicate why this plan did not ultimately see
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2496-438: The Sharks for the 2010 season, even though they were also under contract with the GLRU. In 2009 the GLRU invited former Springbok coach Jake White ’s company Winning Ways to conduct an audit of the Union's systems and structures, after which it was recommended that immediate changes needed to be made. After three seasons of underachievement with the Super Rugby franchise, Eugene Eloff was dismissed as coach, and Hans Coetzee
2574-655: The Super 12 was thus scrapped. The GLRU was combined with the Free State Cheetahs and Griquas to form the Cats Super 12 franchise. Although home games were mostly played at Ellis Park, some games were also played in Bloemfontein at the Free State Stadium (formerly Springbok Park). This caused the franchise considerable administrative problems in forming a united identity between the three provincial teams and their supporters. Players were also reportedly unhappy about
2652-535: The United Kingdom. It was the first loan ever made by the RFU to an overseas union. There is an apocryphal story that it was paid off in three years by the simple expedient of taking out rain insurance with some London based companies; if more than an inch of rain fell in each year the policies would pay out. Not so much buying insurance as placing a bet, and in betting terms this would be a racing certainty. Unfortunately
2730-411: The central life-members' section which is approximately 10m wide. All three of these sections have seven rows of seating on wooden staging and are covered by corrugated asbestos roofing. Either side of the main pavilion are a further six rows of concrete benches which in recent years have been covered with a mabati (corrugated metal) roof. The first match played at the ground was East Africa versus
2808-524: The debt the union would relinquish control of Ellis Park , and control of the stadium would be taken by a new company called Ellis Park Stadium Incorporated (EPSI) on which Volkskas would have 6 board members, the City Council 3 members and the Louis Luyt group 3 members. Thus the rugby union had no representation on the board. The rugby union would however be contractually obliged to play all future matches at
2886-438: The eastern side of the ground an earthen mound runs along the length of the touch-line and there is a tier of five rows of simple stepped seats constructed from breeze-block material and concrete. This simple form of seating is replicated on the western touch-line and it is above this that the main stadium sits. The pavilion consists of three sections, the northern and southern sections, each approximately 30m wide, are larger than
2964-611: The event that was once billed as "Africa's Premier Rugby Sevens Event." The Safari Sevens was postponed in 2017 due to "uncertainty in the prevailing political climate" according to the KRU. Kenya held 2017 Kenyan general election in August 2017 of which the results were disputed. The tournament was reinstated in 2018 at the RFUEA Ground. The 2019 edition of the tournament, with the title sponsorship of Tusker of East African Breweries , attracted
3042-588: The final day of the tournament. Kenya Shujaa would beat the Australia Renegades 40-7 to claim the Robin Cahill Trophy , a win that they dedicated to the 67 lives lost at Westgate. Welsh Warriors defeated Argentina 24-17 to win the 2014 edition. The tournament very nearly didn't take place in 2015 owing to governance issues at the Kenya Rugby Union which led to the then title sponsors Safaricom pulling out. It did eventually take place to poor numbers at
3120-451: The final in Johannesburg. As a result of South African sides being uncompetitive in the expanded Super 12 competition, South African Rugby decided to manage their 14 provincial unions as franchises, combining the unions for the Super 12 competition, before splitting up again to compete as 14 separate sides in the Currie Cup . The old way of using the Currie Cup as a qualifying competition for
3198-523: The form of the England Royals and Sevens World Series core sides Spain and Portugal. As the tournament proceeded, news filtered in about a terrorist attack at the Westgate Mall , located several kilometers away. The England Royals, featuring leading England Sevens player Matt Turner, withdrew from the tournament. This did not put a damper on the tournament as slightly over 20000 fans turned up to watch
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3276-560: The home crowd and did not disappoint, winning the cup. 1°18′05″S 36°46′18″E / 1.301499°S 36.771684°E / -1.301499; 36.771684 RFUEA Ground The RFUEA Ground is a rugby union stadium located on the Ngong Road in Nairobi , Kenya . It was purpose built to be the home of the national team and to serve as the headquarters of the Rugby Football Union of Kenya (RFUK). Coincidentally,
3354-561: The hopes of the home crowd and did not disappoint, winning the cup. In the World Cup Qualifying tournament Kenya, captained by Sammy Khakame , defeated Swaziland and then Madagascar at the beginning of day two and then Namibia in the semi-finals on day three, thus qualifying to go to Argentina the next year as there were two slots open to the African Zone. Zimbabwe defeated Kenya in the final. The tournament would grow in stature with
3432-407: The light of day. By the beginning of the 1950s however, the required motivation, determination, expertise and good fortune were in conjunction and the Union was able to construct the stadium, and within ten years, RFUEA had saved enough money that it was able that it was able to begin loaning money to member clubs for the upgrading of their own grounds. In 1951 the Kenya government granted the union
3510-404: The management of Ellis Park. By August the union was told to repay debts of more than R40 million by 4 September. According to Louis Luyt in his autobiography, Walking Proud, the union was left with interest amounting to R20,000 per day. It was at this time that the then president Jannie le Roux was ousted by the clubs on 3 September 1984, and in his place came self-made millionaire Dr. Louis Luyt,
3588-458: The mettle of the local teams and to provide opposition for the representative sides such as the Scorpions RFC and East Africa . The coming of professionalism to rugby in the 1990s all but dried up these tours and it was decided that a means had to be found of re-initiating the influx if the quality of rugby in the country was not to stagnate. The Rugby Patrons Society decided to put in place
3666-532: The neighbouring Impala RFC ground). As the site for one of the largest and most prestigious annual sevens tournaments in Africa , the Safari Sevens , the RFUEA ground has hosted matches between such diverse teams as Samoa , Emerging Springboks , Zimbabwe , British Army , Public School Wanderers , Bristol University and Université de Grenoble. At an altitude of 1,650 metres (5,410 ft) above sea-level, it
3744-481: The number of people attending the event and this year's rise in admission caused many critics called for an upgrade in the quantity and quality of seating available for spectators. Nine nations took part in the 2009 event; Botswana , Japan , Kenya (who finished sixth in the IRB Sevens World Series this year), Morocco , Tunisia , Tanzania , Uganda , Zambia and Zimbabwe . Other foreign teams included
3822-583: The participation of the South Africa Blitzboks , one of the premier sevens teams in the World Rugby Sevens Series , in addition to national teams from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Uganda, and Burundi, and club teams Samurai Select, Western Province (South Africa), Russia Academy, Seventise (France), Blue Bulls (Wales), and Narvskaya Zastava (Russia). The Kenya Morans beat the Bliztboks 19-14 in
3900-558: The perennial Bristol University Select from the UK , Hamilton Raiders RFC from South Africa , Les Bleus Sevens from France , and Western Province schoolboys . There was also a Kenyan invitation side the Chairman’s Select . Other local entrants included various Kenya club veterans sides, ladies and schools teams. Kenya Harlequins won the veterans competition beating a Rift Valley Academy Veterans 17–5, Western Province took
3978-554: The prizes) and former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga , as well as various other celebrities from the world of Kenyan show business ensuring a constant flow of Hummers , Jaguars and Range Rovers into and out of the car park. The Fiji Barbarians made their debut at the Safari Sevens in 2008. National teams taking part were Botswana , Emerging Springboks , France A (Les Blues) , Japan , Namibia , Tanzania , Tunisia , Uganda , Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya . In addition Samurai Sevens (a professional rugby invitation side) and
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#17330858156474056-585: The referees was the famous English referee Ed Morrison and he took charge of the final between the Public School Wanderers and Zimbabwe. Chester Williams was there as guest of honor and to present the trophies to the winners which included Kenya (who beat Uganda 38-12 in the Plate final) and Cumbria Schoolboys who defeated Shujaa 29-10 in the Bowl Final. In 1999 the then Kenya Rugby Football Union , now
4134-528: The schools title with a 19–0 win over Nyanza, while Mwamba RFC I won the ladies title with a 54–0 win over Vivi. The refereeing cadre included the IRB elite referees Wayne Barnes and David Rose of England. The tournament, under title sponsorship from Kenyan mobile telephony giant Safaricom , became known as the Safaricom Sevens , was hosted for the last time at the RFUEA Ground in 2010, shifting to
4212-456: The stadium First National Stadium, although the City Council was against this as they wanted the stadium to retain the name of their former city councilman who provided the area for the stadium. This is in stark contrast when the stadium name was sold to Coca-Cola in 2008. Eventually FNB provided the union with the finance needed to take control of the stadium. Luyt reduced the capacity of the stadium from 80 000 to 60 000 by adding 88 suites behind
4290-454: The story is not true, insurance companies have never been so naïve concerning weather conditions in tropical climes. In fact the loan and its interest was repaid entirely from the annual subscriptions of the members of the Rugby Patrons Society. Kenya Harlequins , the tenant club, and Impala RFC , on the neighbouring ground, between them paid for the drilling of a bore-hole on the Impala grounds,
4368-423: The suburb of Doornfontein . In the 1980s the union ran into serious financial trouble, mostly as a result of redeveloping Ellis Park . Transvaal supporters nearly did not have a union to support anymore as at one stage the most likely outcome was that the union would disband. In 1984 the union had R37 million of debts to repay, which forced Volkskas Bank to carry the union for a period. This debt mainly came from
4446-402: The suites were R4 million, and the revenue of selling these were R25 million. Even though seating was reduced the union was able to show a constant revenue stream because of the suites. Eventually Luyt listed the stadium on the stock exchange, although this venture was unsuccessful. In spite of the unsuccessful stock exchange listing the union was able to repay all of its debt by 1993. Ellis Park
4524-453: The sun. The pavilion was designed for easy expansion; it consisted originally of two changing-rooms, showers, toilets, a small bar, seating for 200 and housing for the family of the custodian/bar-man. Within ten years it had been expanded to include a full-sized bar, committee-room, kitchen, seating for 3,000 and a camera-tower/broadcasting-box on the roof of the main stand. In recent years the changing facilities have been further expanded. On
4602-407: The teams’ nickname, "Rooibontes" came from. The original union encompassed a much bigger catchment area than it does currently. Unions that gained independence from Transvaal are Western Transvaal (currently the Leopards) in 1920, Northern Transvaal (currently the Blue Bulls) in 1938, and Eastern Transvaal (currently the Pumas) in 1948. Robert Owen Loftus Versfeld, after which the stadium in Pretoria
4680-530: The tendency of South Africans to play in Europe, the GLRU had difficulty in keeping their star players contracted. Some of the players who left the GLRU during the 2000s were: Andre Vos, Rassie Erasmus, Joe Gillingham, Andre Pretorius, Willie Wepener, Ethienne Reyneke, Thinus Delport, Schalk Brits, Wikus van Heerden, Gcobani Bobo, Conrad Jantjies, Gerhard Mostert, Anton van Zyl, Jaco Pretorius, Gerhard Vosloo, Joe van Niekerk, Wayne Julies, Ernst Joubert, Ricky Januarie , with players such as Rory Kockot being lost through
4758-426: The travel arrangements with the members of the Cheetahs and Griquas often being away from their families for extended periods of time. As the Cats the franchise never really achieved the great heights it was expected to, considering that two of South Africa's biggest teams were part of the franchise. The Cats did however have a good spell in 2000 and 2001 when under the guidance of former New Zealand coach Laurie Mains
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#17330858156474836-453: The two goal posts. His rationale for this was that the general public preferred to sit on the sides of the field, thus these seats were deemed economically unviable. However, companies were satisfied to have any suite in the stadium. Thus even when losing 20 000 seats, the union was able to generate a bigger income from this "dead space" of the stadium. Even before construction on the suites started, they were fully subscribed. The cost of building
4914-399: The union managed to recruit several young stars like Joe Gillingham , Cobus Gomes , Rory Kockot and reach the semi-finals of the Super 12, where they lost to the Brumbies and the Sharks respectively. Incidentally, as core of the franchise, the Lions won the 1999 Currie Cup, also under the guidance of Mains. After the Super 12 was expanded in 2006 to become the Super 14, South African Rugby
4992-436: The union redeveloping the old Ellis Park into a modern 80,000- seat stadium in 1980. The union started out with R1 million of its own money, and intended to raise another R12 million through the sales of suites and life memberships. However, due to the underperforming team, the union had a hard time to sell these ideas to businessmen and the intended revenue to fund the stadium never materialized. In March 1984 Volkskas took over
5070-456: The union was for a long time regarded as the perennial underachievers. After winning the Currie Cup in 1972 for the sixth time, supporters had to wait a further 21 years for the trophy to return to Johannesburg. Even though the pain of not securing the Currie Cup was somewhat soothed by winning the Lion Cup (a now extinct knock out competition) in 1986, 1987 and 1992, it was Currie Cup glory supporters were really craving. The team did come close on
5148-442: The unions youth system. The union also lost the services of long serving Springbok Jaque Fourie in 2009 even though the player was still under contract. Fourie came through the Lions youth system, representing the union at school, u/19 and u/21 level. Fourie took his contract to arbitration after which was found that his contract was not legally binding on a technical point. This opened the door for Willem Alberts and Louis Ludik to join
5226-442: The venue, and would have first right over the use of Ellis Park. However, 20% of all gate receipts generated would be paid over to EPSI. However, Volkskas was not fond of this idea, and eventually took complete control over the stadium as a new company called Ellis Park Stadium Pty Ltd. According to Luyt the union would now be allowed to keep 25% of its gate revenue plus R100 000 of the advertising revenue. Luyt also managed to negotiate
5304-399: The venue. But by 1949 attendance for these events had swelled and other venues had to be rented by the Union to facilitate them. The African Stadium (now Nairobi City Stadium ) was most frequently used, though Mitchell Park Stadium (now Jamhuri Park Stadium) was the venue for the match against the Combined ( Oxford and Cambridge ) Universities touring team of 1951. It had been apparent to
5382-410: The water from this well being used to irrigate the pitches on both grounds. The grading of the ground (carried out primarily by John Webster who donated hours of his time to driving the bulldozer) was carried out towards the end of 1953 but the grass planted for the short rains that year failed. The grass was re-planted in time for the long rains of 1954 and that crop was successful. The next step
5460-442: Was appointed as interim coach. The players threatened to strike in response, and lost their next match to the touring British and Irish Lions , who ran in ten tries to win 74–10. White's audit was particularly severe on the physical conditioning of the players and the poor defence displayed by the union. The Lions finished sixth on the 2009 Currie Cup, losing 6 games by less than 7 points with physical conditioning and defence being
5538-407: Was awarded an additional franchise. Even though there was pressure from government to award the franchise to the Eastern Cape-based Southern Spears (now the Southern Kings), the franchise was awarded to the Free State Cheetahs and Griquas thus ending their involvement with the Cats. The Cats were now made up of the Lions, the Leopards and the Pumas. The Johannesburg Super 14 franchise was still known as
5616-457: Was designed by John Tanner ( Kenya Harlequins and East Africa ) and the building works were carried out by a firm belonging to a member of the Rugby Patrons Society at a very reasonable cost . The stadium and the majority of the seating was placed on the western side of the ground such that in the early evening (when matches are normally played in East Africa) the spectators are not looking into
5694-550: Was dissolved in 1953 with the formation of the Rugby Football Union of East Africa (RFUEA); the current Kenya Rugby Football Union (KRFU) was not formed until 1970. Golden Lions The Golden Lions (currently known as the Fidelity ADT Golden Lions for sponsorship reasons) are a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg who compete in the annual Currie Cup . The team
5772-557: Was formed in 1889 after delegates from different clubs in the region decided to form a united rugby union to look after the well-being of the clubs. Prominent clubs involved in the process were Pirates, Wanderers, Pretoria, Potchefstroom and Kaffrarians. The first elected president was Bill Taylor (born 1858). Transvaal's first match was against Griquas in Kimberley on 31 August 1889. The original colours used by Transvaal were dark blue and white jerseys, blue shorts and blue-and-white socks. It
5850-532: Was known as Coca-Cola Park between 2008 and 2012, although as one of the FIFA World Cup 2010 venues, for the period of the world cup, it was known as Ellis Park again. The stadium, and surrounding swimming arena and indoor sports arena, is run by Ellis Park World of Sport Pty Ltd, in which the GLRU has a stake. Even though the Lions are regarded as one of the most successful teams in South African rugby history,
5928-521: Was mostly used by New Zealand teams being implemented by Johan Ackermann, they reached the Currie Cup final twice in a row, losing to Western Province in 2014 at Newlands and winning in 2015 against Western Province at Ellis Park after going undefeated the season. After being promoted back to Super Rugby in 2014, the Lions reached 3 consecutive finals in 2016, 2017 and 2018. They also produced a number of new Springboks including captain Warren Whiteley. In
6006-485: Was obtained from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) after 40 members of the Rugby Patrons Society provided personal guarantees; ten guarantors provided surety for £300 and a further 30 for £100 each which, in 1951 when £300 was equivalent to average annual earnings in the UK, was a considerable statement of support. This loan had been secured by D.M. Goldstein (then President of both the RFUEA and Kenya Harlequins ) whilst on leave in
6084-449: Was to erect the 60 foot (18 m) goal-posts, in order to serve as a visual advertisement that something was happening, and to fence in the ground to prevent damage by livestock and casual pedestrians across the pitch. Bougainvillia shrubs were laid along the fence, four rows of trees were planted on the Eastern side of the ground to act as a windbreak and the car-park was levelled. The Stadium
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