Canan Moodie can’t believe he’s a Bok going to the World Cup: ‘I’m struggling’

Canan Moodie was still wearing his Springbok blazer and pinching himself to see if it was really true as he came straight from being announced in the Rugby World Cup squad to the Bulls awards evening in Pretoria last week.

“I’m still struggling for it to settle in,” said a delighted Moodie, who’ll be going to the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France as a 20-year-old.

‘Crazy’

“If you would’ve told me four years ago when I was at school watching the Rugby World Cup (in Japan), that four years later in 2023 I would be part of the Springbok World Cup squad and playing with some of those players who won the World Cup in 2019, I would’ve said you’re crazy.”

The Bulls prodigy, who only made his Bok debut last year after playing a handful of games for his provincial team, was cheered and congratulated by his team-mates as he arrived for the gala evening to mark the team’s 2022/23 season awards.

“It was so special coming from the Rugby World Cup squad announcement to the Bulls awards and seeing all my team-mates and they were all so happy for me,” said Moodie.

“These are the guys you spend most of your days with, so it was really special to share it with them.

“As a young player there are a lot of mentors I look up to in this team – guys like Bismarck (du Plessis) and Cornal (Hendricks) who are senior players and who’ve done it all. For them to be proud of me means a lot because I’ve looked up to them for so long.”

One year on from first call-up

But among all of the congratulations, Moodie said it was a message from his mother that touched him the most.

“My mother actually messaged me on the morning of the squad announcement saying how proud she is of me.

“Ironically, the squad announcement was exactly a year to the day that I was called up to the Springboks for the first time. I’m just so grateful and feel really blessed to be in this position.”

The Boks are currently in the UK preparing for their second Rugby World Cup warm-up match against Wales in Cardiff this weekend. They’ll then take on the All Blacks at Twickenham next Friday before heading to France.

The Boks’ opening game at the World Cup is against Scotland on September 9.