Lions hit with hefty quota fine

The Lions were found guilty of contravening a quota regulation last night, but they will be able to defend their Vodacom Cup title in the final against the Bulls on Saturday.

A three-man South African Rugby Football Union tribunal found the Lions guilty and fined them R30 000. Of that penalty, R15 000 will be suspended until the end of the season.

Lions coach Frans Ludeke was hugely relieved after the sentence was announced.

"It would have been really heartbreaking if we were kicked out of the competition. We didn't deliberately go in contravention of the quota regulations, but it was a decision I had to take," the coach said.

The Cheetahs charged the Lions with contravening the regulation following their Vodacom Cup semifinal, which the latter won in Bloemfontein last week. Ludeke "sacrificed" flank Sean Plaatjie for a hooker after James van der Walt was sin-binned.

"I'm glad the panel came to the conclusion that this was a rugby decision. The decision was made in the heat of battle. We've had a good record this season when it comes to quotas. We in fact normally exceed it.

"To me quotas aren't a huge issue because we've got really talented players, but we transgressed and we have to pay a fine," Ludeke said.

The panel, made up of chairman Chris Heunis, Nape Dalamo and Piet Nieman, identified mitigating circumstances in the sentence.

The Lions ended the match with four black players on the field, they had exceeded the minimum quota throughout the season and they ruled that the Cheetahs were not disadvantaged by Ludeke's actions. The fine was in line with previous sentences for similar offences.

The Lions and the Bulls were both fined for similar offences in 2000, when Pat Marran and Rayno Hendricks were the central figures in the respective cases.