Springbok wing Canan Moodie was nog ’n skool-laaitie at Boland Landbou when the Springboks won the World Cup in 2019.
Fast-forward to today and he is on the verge of going to the World Cup in France himself, despite not even being mondig yet at the age of 20.
But Moodie, who comes of age in November, is living proof of the saying that if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. And he will go all-out to prove that when the Springboks face Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
"We know it is going to be tough, but we have our plans, and we have to stick to it" - more here: https://t.co/tvXN4A7EKa 💥#Springboks #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/4j9n9riPEP
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 2, 2023
At 1.9m tall in his socks, it’s Moodie’s ability under the high ball that could give him the inside lane when the Boks name their 23-man squad for the World Cup next week.
It’s an area South Africa struggled in during their recent 35-20 Rugby Championship defeat to the All Blacks. Fellow wings Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe played on that day.
Not our night in Auckland as NZ capitalise on a slow start and unnecessary errors by the #Springboks to take the win - congrats @AllBlacks 👏#StrongerTogether #NZLvRSA #Springboks #TRC2023 pic.twitter.com/lFoWEjv7hx
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 15, 2023
The other specialist wing in contention is Kurt-Lee Arendse, who has been in great try-scoring form of late.
Of the competition in the squad for World Cup places, Moodie says: “Cheslin leads the team [on the wing] at the moment and he is playing really good rugby. Kurt-Lee has also played really well of late and we know what Mapimpi can do.
“So yes, I know it’s tough competition, but it brings the best out of me. Every guy tries to fight for his opportunity. This is my opportunity now – I didn’t play in the last two games when the kicking game was so prominent – but this is my opportunity to show what I can do.”
Of his preparation against a possible aerial bombardment from their hosts, he adds: “It’s Test match rugby so you can expect high balls. Against the All Blacks, they got us a bit on the jump.
“We did our analysis and I spoke to Kurt-Lee and Cheslin [who played against Argentina last week] about the kicking game.”
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za