Orie leads the Stormers in their trip to Ulster

Springbok lock Marvin Orie will round off what has been a busy time for him before heading into the break given to the national players by leading the DHL Stormers in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with Ulster in Belfast on Friday night.

It is an important match for the Stormers as they are currently second and Ulster are in the top four and challenging strongly, with the home team on Friday also starting to pick up momentum again after a mid-season slump.

However, the travel challenge plus the start of the Bok resting protocols - they will be on holiday for a month - has thrown a curve ball at the Stormers, with coach John Dobson electing to leave several players rather than put them through the arduous journey back to the northern hemisphere after the team only returned from their most recent tour last Tuesday.

The tireless Orie will be resting after this though and will not be available for the clash with the Sharks in Durban that follows this, so it makes sense for him to add his experience for a game where the Stormers will be up against it but are nonetheless determined to pick up at least a bonus point or two in their quest to hold onto their strong position in the South African Shield.

The list of players unavailable at present includes Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Alapati Leuia, Salmaan Moerat, Angelo Davids, Gary Porter, Seabelo Senatla, Adre Smith, Ernst van Rhyn, Nama Xaba and Leolin Zas.

However, also not on tour are several players who were available and yet have just had too much rugby (and travel) recently so are being held back for the Durban trip, such as Deon Fourie, Joseph Dweba, Paul de Wet, Hacjivah Dayimani and the man of the match from the weekend match against Clermont-Auvergne in the Heineken Champions Cup, Dan du Plessis.

Manie Libbok is ready to play this week but is also being rested, as is Malherbe’s direct back-up at tight-head Neethling Fouche, who has also played a lot of rugby recently.

Yet for all that, the squad does reflect the depth that has been built up impressively at the Stormers by Dobson over the past year, and which was accelerated by some bold selections during the first part of the URC season. It is also bolstered by the inclusion of Ruben van Heerden, the former Sharks player who has switched to the Stormers from Exeter Chiefs. Presumably he won’t have as far to travel as his new teammates and will be waiting for them in Belfast. Evan Roos, who was good in his comeback against Clermont, is also of course part of the squad and with Willie Engelbrecht, Junior Pokomela and Marcel Theunissen there, the Stormers don’t look short of loose-forward options even though they will be without Fourie and Dayimani and continue to be without the injured Xaba.

Also back in the mix for the first time since being injured two thirds of the way through last season is veteran Bok hooker Scarra Ntubeni. Another experienced player with international experience in the squad is former WP and Stormers captain Juan de Jongh.

One thing is certain, the team will look very different on Friday from what it did last week against Clermont but there is still enough experience in the unit for them to aim to be competitive at the Kingspan Stadium.