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Cape Town - The Lions have snapped up the services of two of the most promising locks in the country - both from neighbours, the Bulls - as they continue to fill up their squad with more depth for next season.
According to the supersport.com website, the Lions have confirmed they have acquired the services of Bulls lock Marvin Orie, who has been a regular in the Bulls Super Rugby set-up this year, and completed a move that almost happened two years ago when the Bulls convinced Orie to stay.
The Lions have also snapped up SA Schools A side lock PJ Steenkamp, with the Garsfontein lock set to make the move to Ellis Park at the end of his school career.
Orie's move seems to have been prompted by the arrival of Lood de Jager, with the lock struggling to get regular game time and behind RG Snyman and Jason Jenkins in the pecking order and likely to move further down when De Jager arrives at the end of the season in Pretoria.
The Bulls lock was to move to the Lions two seasons ago, but was finally convinced by the Bulls to stay in Pretoria a little longer, after protracted negotiations on the matter.
Orie now joins a number of team-mates that made the move across the Jukskei in the past few seasons and are currently part of the Lions' success story this season - including Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Franco Mostert, Courtnal Skosan, Faf de Klerk, and Robbie Coetzee.
Steenkamp, who made the SA Schools 'A' side last year, is well known for his versatility, standing at 1.95m and weighing in at 100kg and is currently with the Blue Bulls side at Craven Week this year.
According to Bulls High Performance Manager Xander Janse van Rensburg, they respect Orie's decision and have decided not to stand in his way.
"We had to fight hard in 2014 to try and keep Marvin in Pretoria and he was always honest with us and told us if he feels he does not get enough game time in Pretoria that he may decide to make the move," Janse van Rensburg said.
"With the signing of Lood de Jager, as well as the form of RG And Jason and some of our other exciting locks in the system at the moment, we wish Marvin well in his future at the Lions and want to thank him for his loyalty and service over the past five years."
The Lions still need to finalise some of their contracts but it seems that Steph de Wit and Ruan Lerm may both be leaving the Union as their contracts come to an end at the end of this season.
