1991 Lion Cup

The 1991 Lion Cup was the ninth edition of the Lion Cup, the premier domestic rugby union knock-out competition in South Africa.

1991 Lion Cup
Countries	South Africa
Date	24 March – 27 July 1991
Champions	Northern Transvaal (3rd title)
Runners-up	Natal
Matches played	24
← 1990 1992 →

Teams

All 25 South African provincial teams took part in this competition. The semi-finalists from the 1990 Lion Cup were put into Group A and the losing quarter finalists into Group B. The remaining teams were divided geographically. Groups C and D contained nine southern teams; the four southern teams with the highest ranking were put into Group C and the other five teams into Group D (where the two lowest-ranked teams, South Western Districts and North Western Cape had to play off in a qualifying game for the Group D spot in Round One). Similarly, Groups E and F contained eight northern teams; the four northern teams with the highest ranking were put into Group E and the other four teams into Group F:^[1][2]

1991 Lion Cup teams
Group	Ranking	Team
Group A	1	Northern Transvaal
	2	Western Province
	3	Transvaal
	4	Natal
Group B	5	Far North
	6	Western Transvaal
	7	Eastern Province
	8	Free State
Group C	9	Northern Free State
	11	Western Province League
	12	Griqualand West
	13	North Eastern Cape
Group D	14	Boland
	21	Winelands
	22	Border
	24	South Western Districts
	25	North Western Cape
Group E	10	Eastern Transvaal
	15	Northern Natal
	16	SARU
	17	Vaal Triangle
Group F	18	Lowveld
	19	South Eastern Transvaal
	20	Eastern Free State
	23	Stellaland

Competition

This competition was a knock-out competition. A qualifying round was held between the two lowest-ranked teams for the Group D place in Round One. In each of the first three rounds, the lower-ranked teams would have home advantage. In Round One, the teams from Group D hosted teams from Group D, while the teams from Group F hosted teams from Group F. In Round Two, the winners of the eight Round One ties played against each other for a place in Round Three. The winners of the four Round Two matches then joined teams in Group B for Round Three, with the winning teams progressing to the quarter-finals (where they were joined by the teams from Group A), followed by Semi-finals and the Final.^[1][2]

Fixtures and results

The fixtures were as follows:

Qualifying round

	24 March 1991	North Western Cape	6–21	South Western Districts	Upington
			Report[3]

Round one

Northern Section	6 April 1991	Eastern Free State	13–24	Eastern Transvaal	Bethlehem
			Report[4]

Northern Section	6 April 1991	Lowveld	12–15	Northern Natal	Nelspruit
			Report[5]

Northern Section	6 April 1991	South Eastern Transvaal	41–12	Vaal Triangle	Witbank
			Report[6]

Northern Section	6 April 1991	Stellaland	22–18	SARU	Mafikeng
			Report[5]

Southern Section	6 April 1991	Boland	38–24	North Eastern Cape	Wellington, Western Cape
			Report[7]

Southern Section	6 April 1991	Border	9–4	Western Province League	East London
			Report[5]

Southern Section	6 April 1991	South Western Districts	6–32	Northern Free State	George
			Report[8]

Southern Section	6 April 1991	Winelands	0–39	Griqualand West	Malmesbury
			Report[5]

Bye/s: Eastern Province, Far North, Free State, Natal, Northern Transvaal, Transvaal, Western Province, Western Transvaal

Round two

Northern Section	13 April 1991	South Eastern Transvaal	18–3	Northern Natal	Witbank
			Report[9]

Northern Section	13 April 1991	Stellaland	32–24	Eastern Transvaal	Lichtenburg
			Report[9]

Southern Section	13 April 1991	Border	22–25	Northern Free State	East London
			Report[10]

Southern Section	13 April 1991	Boland	22–3	Griqualand West	Wellington
			Report[11]

Bye/s: Eastern Province, Far North, Free State, Natal, Northern Transvaal, Transvaal, Western Province, Western Transvaal

Round three

	4 May 1991	Boland	21–28	Free State	Wellington
			Report[12]

	4 May 1991	Northern Free State	27–24	Western Transvaal	Welkom
			Report[13]

	4 May 1991	South Eastern Transvaal	32–19	Far North	Witbank
			Report[13]

	4 May 1991	Stellaland	14–67	Eastern Province	Rustenburg
			Report[13]

Bye/s: Natal, Northern Transvaal, Transvaal, Western Province

Quarter-finals

	29 May 1991	Northern Transvaal	22–18	Free State	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
			Report[14]

	31 May 1991	Northern Free State	25–32	Natal	Welkom
			Report[15]

	31 May 1991	Transvaal	59–22	South Eastern Transvaal	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
			Report[15]

	1 June 1991	Eastern Province	27–12	Western Province	Port Elizabeth
			Report[16]

Semi-finals

	6 July 1991	Northern Transvaal	24–12	Eastern Province	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
			Report[17]

	6 July 1991	Transvaal	11–24	Natal	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
			Report[18]

Final

	27 July 1991	Northern Transvaal	62–6	Natal	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
			[19]

See also

• 1991 Currie Cup
• 1991 Currie Cup / Central Series
• 1991 Currie Cup Central A
• 1991 Currie Cup Central B
• 1991 Currie Cup Central / Rural Series
• 1991 Currie Cup Rural C
• 1991 Currie Cup Rural D