Lock Marvin Orie learning valuable lessons in Springbok camp

Springbok lock Marvin Orie has said that being in the highly competitive environment of the senior national team over the past few weeks has helped him with personal growth.

Orie earned his fifth Test cap during the 32-12 bonus-point victory against Argentina last weekend in Gqeberha when he replaced Eben Etzebeth in the second half.

“It’s always an honour and privilege to play at the highest level,” said the imposing Orie, adding that standards in the Bok camp are high.

“The team has done well in the last few years and the standards within the squad and to get into the squad are high. There are different roles in the team, so the players who are not playing have the responsibility to prepare those that are playing as best as possible.

“But, in terms of fitness, everyone was hungry to get game time (last week), and it was good to be part of the game. Competition within the squad is strong, but from a player perspective we trust the coaches to make the choices on selection.

“We just need to make sure that we are ready to go, bring the energy when we are selected, and to do our best. In terms of my personal growth I have definitely improved, and I am looking forward to building on this in the next few weeks.”

Springbok assistant coach Deon Davids said players who played against Argentina showed determination and rose to the occasion against a physically imposing Argentinian outfit.

“We always look for opportunities to broaden the players’ experience, and we are happy with how the younger players stepped in against Argentina,” said Davids.

“After winning the Lions Series and going into the Rugby Championship, younger players had to step up to the occasion and there were big moments that they handled quite well.

“So, in general, we are quite happy with how they responded. That said, obviously having assessed the game, there are areas we can improve on, and we’ll work on that this week.”

Davids added that he was happy that players managed to find solutions in the match and they stuck to the plan.

“The plan the players made for the last game was correct, but our execution was not always as effective as we would have liked it to be. That said, the players found solutions throughout the game and that assisted us in reacting better.

“Looking forward, we need to set our standards and see what we can do better as individuals, and we have to ensure that we implement that at training so that it filters onto the playing field. So, for us it is about driving standards and getting better in our execution.”