Marvin Orie ready to front up to Aussie giants in Rugby Champs opener

Springbok lock Marvin Orie is set to get a massive opportunity to impress when he faces what could be a monster Wallabies second row in their Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.

Orie, who is the smallest of the Springbok locks, could find himself up against the giant figures of Will Skelton and Richie Arnold, when the teams run onto the park, and he will be eager to prove his worth, especially with the lock competition in the Bok setup so fierce ahead of the World Cup.

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Despite possibly coming up against some imposing figures, Orie admitted at a Bok press conference on Monday that he wouldn’t back down, but there was no use in thinking of those things because you might not even face them.

“Are we going to fall over because of one guy? Not a chance. You don’t stand back and you don’t just plan for a specific player,” explained Orie. 

“One needs to be familiar with the position you play in, as well as your competitors. We don’t know if a guy like Will (Skelton) will even be selected, nor how the Aussies plan to do things on the day, but you need to cover all the bases.

“Of course we’ve done our analysis on players like Will and Richie to put plans in place (for them). So we are ready for that challenge.”

Set piece battle

However, Orie is prepared for a massive set piece battle, saying that the whole Aussie pack was dangerous and that the Boks had to be prepared for that.

“They have very good players from No 1 to No 8, so they’ll come out guns blazing. That said, we’ve had a good few weeks of training where the focus has been on ourselves. We have a few more days before the first Test so we’ll look at their strengths as well.”

This is the first time since 2019 that the Boks will be facing the Wallabies in South Africa, with the last four games all held Down Under, and Orie clams that they will be fired up for the match, especially playing in front of their home supporters.

“To play for South Africa, no matter who the opposition is, you always feel like you want to go out there and make the people proud,” said Orie.

“There are so many people in our country who support us and a lot of players who want to be Springboks and as a player you realise that you are one of the lucky few to be involved here.

“So you want to go out there and make the people proud by showing them the passion and energy we play with.”