Springbok winger Canan Moodie can’t wait to run out as part of an exciting back three with Willie le Roux and Kurt-Lee Arendse at Loftus Versfeld.
The Vodacom Bulls winger had a breakout 2022, earning four caps for the Boks and has backed that up this season. On Saturday, he will start in the 2023 Rugby Championship opener against Australia – who he scored on debut against Down Under – alongside Le Roux and Arendse.
“Coming into this year was different for me because I attended alignment camps and I knew what the national set-up was all about,” Moodie told reporters in a Bok conference this week. “I’m just excited to go out there and wear the jersey with pride.”
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Of the combination with Arendse and Le Roux – the latter who will join them at the Bulls after the Rugby World Cup – Moodie said: “I’ve played with Kurt-Lee a lot, but it’s great to have someone like Willie who has played all around the world and has so much wisdom alongside me.
“Being able to play with him this weekend, but also at the union, I’m learning from him as much as I can.”
Commenting on Australia’s wings, the 20-year-old said: “We won’t know who we are facing until they announce their team. But we’ve done our analysis, just as they have, and we know what they are going to bring, so we just need to go out there and perform as well as we can.”
“It’s a new season, and they [the opposition] probably know a bit better now [about him]. They probably did their analysis on what we can bring, and we did the same with them. We won’t know yet who is playing, but we did our homework on what they can bring. We must put pressure on them.”
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*Predictions must be made before kickoff. pic.twitter.com/1USShG02Ca— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) July 7, 2023
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— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) July 6, 2023
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