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Johannesburg - Marvin Orie has shrugged off the disappointment of a lack of game time in Super Rugby by stamping his authority on the Blue Bulls No 5 lock position in the Currie Cup.
The 22-year-old has always been held in high esteem at Loftus Versfeld but this did not seem to translate into actually backing the player in the senior squads.
Orie, who is a member of the successful South African Under-20 side at the 2012 Junior World Championship, was left frustrated as his rise in the senior ranks did not come as quick as he had expected.
“It was definitely frustrating and for every rugby player in South Africa your dream is to play for the Springboks and playing Super Rugby is probably the highest achievement before that,” Orie said.
“Not playing Super Rugby was really frustrating but I’ve learned in rugby that everything happens in its own time and you have to be patient sometimes and wait for your opportunity.”
Orie admits some of his performances in this year’s Vodacom Cup did not warrant his promotion to the Super Rugby team but allowed him to make some adjustments to his game.
“In the Vodacom Cup once or twice I didn’t show the quality to make the Super Rugby side and I’ve been training hard and I knew the Currie Cup would be my big opportunity,” he said.
Now forming an integral part of the Blue Bulls pack, Orie nearly traded Pretoria for Johannesburg at the end of 2014.
The Bulls, however, managed to foil the move to the Lions and are now bearing the fruit of showing confidence in the young talent.
Backing young talent has been a recurring theme in Blue Bulls coach Nollis Marais’ short stint since taking the reins of the Currie Cup side.
Marais’ confidence in the towering lock comes as no surprise as he coached Orie at the Blue Bulls Under-21 team where he also called the lineouts as a teenager.
“I am happy with my performance, if the team is doing well and I can contribute toward the team doing well then I am very happy,” Orie said.
“I’ve been enjoying every moment so far and I haven’t had a lot of experience with the Bulls senior team and the changes with the coaching staff has paid off well for us at the moment.”
Orie enjoyed the mentorship of one of the world’s best lineout proponent in Victor Matfield and Flip van der Merwe.
“I’ve learned a lot from guys like Victor and Flip who worked with us until recently and the blocks Victor has put in place is really working with me,” Orie said.
“I’ve been at the Bulls for five years now and Victor has been one of the best players at five lock and I base my game a lot on what he’s done and how he plays.”
The Blue Bulls tackle the Golden Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday (19:00 kick-off).
Teams:
Blue Bulls:
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Lappies Labuschagne (captain), 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 RG Snyman, 19 Deon Stegmann, 20 Ivan van Zyl, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Burger Odendaal
Golden Lions:
15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Ruan Combrinck, 13. Stokkies Hanekom, 12. Howard Mnisi, 11. Courtnall Skosan, 10. Marnitz Boshoff, 9. Ross Cronje, 8. Fabian Booysen, 7. Stephan de Witt, 6. Jaco Kriel (captain), 5. Franco Mostert, 4. Martin Muller, 3. Ruan Dreyer, 2. Robbie Coetzee, 1. Jacques van Rooyen
Substitutes: 16. Malcolm Marx, 17. Julian Redelinghuys, 18. MB Lusaseni, 19. Kwagga Smith, 20. Jaco van der Walt, 21. Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 22. Sampie Mastriet
