‘Lucky’ Slipper back on the right footing
JOHANNESBURG: The majority of the Lions players will know what they’re up against when they run out at AMI Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday for the Super Rugby final against the mighty Crusaders. Lock Marvin Orie is not one of them.
The tall second row forward, who is in the midst of a stellar season, will experience Christchurch’s cold, wet weather and the intimidating atmosphere of the Crusaders’ home ground for the first time.
“It’ll be my first time playing there,” said the 25-year-old earlier this week before the Lions flew out of South Africa for Saturday’s final – their third straight appearance in the last match of the competition.
“The coach (Swys de Bruin) has given us all a good description of what to expect... my job is to get the work done. I’m super excited about playing in the final.”
Saturday’s match will also be Orie’s first major final after not featuring for the Lions in last season’s title decider at Ellis Park against the Crusaders, after joining earlier in the year.
It has been some last 18 months for Orie. He joined the Lions from the Bulls, but couldn’t crack the starting team on a regular basis, but this season, with more game-time behind him, he not only became a Springbok (debuting against Wales in June), he’s also become a key man in the Lions’ pack playing alongside Franco Mostert.
It’s been quite a journey for the former Tuks player who suffered a horrific broken leg in helping his team win a second Varsity Cup title in 2013 that ruled him out of captaining the Junior Springboks at the World Cup that same year.
“That injury really set me back... but I always believed I could be here, go far with my rugby,” he said this week.
“Moving to the Lions last year was the best thing that I could have done. It’s great to be part of this team and to be playing in this final this weekend.”
Not knowing what to expect on Saturday has given Orie plenty of belief that he and his team-mates can pull off a surprise win and lift the trophy for the first time.
“I have absolutely no doubt that we can do this,” he said.
“The Crusaders are a very good team, they’ve won Super Rugby titles before. They’re a fantastic team but we’re not intimidated by them and we all believe we can do this.
“The key for us is to focus on ourselves and to execute the plan the coach has come up with. It would be so special if we were to go there and win the title; that would be fantastic. But let me not get ahead of myself.”
There is a feeling among Lions fans that De Bruin’s team are hitting top form and peaking at just the right time, having comfortably got past the Jaguares and Waratahs in the quarter- and semi-finals respectively. But Orie looked at his team’s quality performances of the last few weeks in a different light.
“I don’t know if ‘peak’ is the right word. We still have quite a few challenges, like the way we’ve been starting our matches,” he said, referring to the slow starts and going behind early on in matches. “It’s something we must address before kick-off this weekend.
“But the big positive for our team is all the guys who’ve come back into the side since the international break, like Warren (Whiteley), Malcolm (Marx), Courtnall (Skosan)... and Elton (Jantjies) is playing very well too. Also, Aphiwe Dyantyi has come back after being out at one stage. So getting these players back and the composure they bring to the team, that’s the big positive.”
Orie and his team-mates will certainly be hoping it is first time lucky for him because that will mean it is third time lucky for the Lions. SYDNEY: Testing positive for cocaine twice and being banned from rugby for two months had been embarrassing but it also allowed James Slipper to address his mental health issues, the Wallabies prop said yesterday as he prepares for a return to the field.
The 29-year-old tested positive for the drug on two separate occasions earlier this year. He was given the minimum mandatory two-month ban in May and fined A$27,500.
“I let a lot of people down and I couldn’t be more sorry for that and more embarrassed for what I’ve done,” a contrite Slipper said ahead of his return to the field tomorrow for a Super Rugby selection against the Wallabies.
“I’ve obviously gone through a bit of a rough patch and made some poor decisions and probably wasn’t coping with certain aspects of my life that I was going through at the time.
“At the end of the day, it brought it to a head and I’ve addressed quite a few things and it’s probably something that’s going to have to stay with me for a while.”
The loosehead prop, who has won 86 caps for Australia, said in May that he had been battling depression, but his enforced break had allowed him to confront his mental health issues.
“It forced me to actually have a real good look at myself and seek professional help,” he added. “I was one of those blokes who didn’t want to talk, simple as that.
“I clearly was struggling a bit there, but as soon as I opened up to my mum and my dad and told them I was struggling, it kind of lifted a weight off the shoulders and I could really address the issues.”
His ban ended on July 15 and he was named in the Queensland Country team for Australia’s third tier National Rugby Championship starting on September 1.
He was called into John Manenti’s Super Rugby selection on Tuesday for their clash with the Wallabies at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney in a match the national team are using to prepare for the southern hemisphere’s Rugby Championship that starts on August 18 against the All Blacks.
“I’m just so lucky to be back here and given an opportunity to play against the Australian team, whether I play many minutes or not,” Slipper said.
“But it’ll be interesting. I feel like it’s important just having that purpose and having a bit of drive in your life.” — Reuters