Lions birthday boy calls for gusto

One of only two Springboks left in the Lions’ starting forward pack, lock Marvin Orie will hope to celebrate his 27th birthday in style today after being tasked to ignite the Super Rugby fire for his side against the Bok-laden Stormers.

In the build-up to the clash at Ellis Park, Orie admitted there were very few weaknesses in the Stormers’ game, and like last week against the Reds the Lions could place a high emphasis on their rolling maul.

“The tight phases will always be a key ingredient for every rugby game, so whether it’s a lineout, scrum or maul, it’s important for any team to stand up,” said Orie, who had three Bok caps and 35 Super Rugby caps for the Lions since joining them from the Bulls in 2017.

“As with every game, we have to make sure we do well in our own set-pieces, so that’s the aim and hopefully we can get it right this weekend.”

With the Stormers not having conceded any points in their first two matches, big questions were expected to be asked of the Lions in their attempt to break down the defensive wall.

“There’s something different when it’s an SA derby,” Orie said.

“Not that overseas teams don’t bring motivation, but the Stormers have been doing well and we are on an upward curve, so it’s exciting times.

“It’s been a tough couple of days and our coaches have been working very hard. We are trying to tick the boxes we need to tick, and if the players play their part it could make for a big game.”

Orie admitted there were a couple of times when they were “under the pump” in their win over the Reds last week.

“We managed to get the result, but apart from the result there are a few things that we as a team judge ourselves on,” he said.

“We have done our assessment and we always want to improve.”