French club close in on Springbok lock Marvin Orie
French Top 14 strugglers Perpignan are reported to be pursuing South African second-row player Marvin Orie to fill an apparrent vacancy at lock.
Rugbyrama report that Orie, who has earned 12 international caps for the Springboks and currently plays for the Stormers in the URC, would no doubt be a valuable addition to USAP forward pack.
Due to his involvement in the Springboks' World Cup preparations, Orie is unlikely to join Perpignan at Aimé-Giral until the end of the year. Nonetheless, his arrival would undeniably strengthen USAP's squad and enhance their prospects for success in the upcoming season.
His potential recruitment signifies the French club's commitment to ambitious player acquisitions and apparent desire not to be fighting it out at the bottom of the league again next season.
Orie, who previously played for the Lions, Bulls, and the Ospreys, showcased his international potential in November when he played in three test matches against France, Italy, and England, starting in the latter two.
If Orie accepts USAP's offer, he would join the giant 6'4, 150kg Posolo Tuilagi as a formidable duo in the number engine room position. With the departures of Faasalele, who is joining Toulouse; and Mahu, who is heading to Massy; Orie's potential arrival is an important one for club.
They have already secured several signings for the upcoming season, including Pietro Ceccarelli, Patrick Sobela, So'otala Fa'aso'o, Jaco Van Tonder, Apisai Naqalevu, Jean-Pascal Barraque, Tavite Veredamu, Tommaso Allan and Nemo Roelofse.
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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