Marvin Orie says the Springboks aren’t daunted by the imposing frame of giant Wallabies second rowers Will Skelton and Richie Arnold for Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener in Pretoria.
Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones is set to call on the two France-based locks as Australia look to match the Springbok pack and win at Loftus Versfeld for the first time in their history.
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Skelton, who plays for La Rochelle, and Toulouse’s Arnold – who come in at 2.03m, 145kg and 2.08m, 127kg, respectively – have enjoyed plenty of success in France, winning Champions Cup and Top 14 titles between them.
The Springboks will be without the recovering Eben Etzebeth and stalwart Lood de Jager, both expected to be on the plane to New Zealand as part of the split-squad system.
However, the hosts will still be able to call on the workaholic Orie, as well as former Irish international Jean Kleyn (2.03m, 121kg) and Munster’s RG Snyman.
“Are we going to fall over because of one guy? Not a chance. You don’t stand back and you don’t just plan for a specific player,” Orie said with a grin, when asked about the challenge posed by Skelton and Arnold.
“One needs to be familiar with the position you play in, as well as your competitors. We don’t know if a guy like Will will even be selected, nor how the Aussies plan to do things on the day, but you need to cover all the bases.
“Of course we’ve done our analysis on players like Will and Richie to put plans in place.
“Hopefully the altitude will hit them by the first 15 or 20 minutes. And it will be easy for us,” Orie joked. “We know some of their strengths.
“We know Arnold, and of course Skelton, has done some really great stuff in the cup competitions in the scrums and set-piece, their captain is also in the front row.
“We are expecting a competitive set-piece because we also love to compete, so we are looking forward to that.”
Photo: Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP