Lion Soup

03/06/09 09:58

The British and Irish Lions face the Golden Lions tonight in every commentators worst nightmare. Just a week and a half after the Leinster versus Leicester tongue twister, Stuart Barnes et al have an even fruitier problem on their hands.

Frankly, South African club naming is pretty complex anyway. Most clubs have two versions of their name, one for playing on the international S14 stage, and one for playing provincially in the Currie Cup. There's often also a sponsorship tie in, so sometimes they'll be referred to by that moniker also. Finally, the number of name changes of the years has in some cases been hard to keep up with.

Take the B&I team's opposition tonight. The Golden Lions are known as simply the Golden Lions when playing provincially, but on the Super 14 stage, simply as The Lions. Although for sponsorship purposes that's sometimes the Xerox Lions - seriously, what rugby club wants to be named after a photocopier? Add to this the naming history. Originally the team was known as Transvaal. Then in 1997 this was changed to the Gauteng Lions and then just a year later, the Golden Lions. For the Super 14, and it's ancestors, the team was known as the Cats and the Golden Cats before being renamed as The Lions in 2006.

Confused? I'm not surprised. Save to say that tonight the British & Irish Lions (the ones with the red-shirts and funny names like 'Donncha' and 'Gethin' that we're all potty about) play South Africa's Golden Lions at the famous Ellis Park.

C'Mon boys!!!

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Lion Soup