Moodie ‘punches his ticket’ to France

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Canan Moodie is hoping that his “special” performance against Argentina on Saturday was enough to clinch a spot in the Springbok squad chosen to defend the World Cup.

The 20-year-old winger started in the win over Los Pumas, in the first of three World Cup warm-up matches for the Boks, and scored South Africa’s second try from a Manie Libbok cross-kick.

He had a breakout 2022, earning four Test caps and has backed that up this season for the Boks and Vodacom Bulls, yet still has his fingers crossed that he will be boarding the plane to France after the 33-man contingent is unveiled on Tuesday.

“It’s very special to come here and get a good win,” Moodie said post-match in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

“The crowd was tough, but we knew that. They [Argentina] are a strangling and suffocating team, and we knew we just had to stay in the fight.

“We knew along the 60th minute in the second half they would break, so we had to keep on pounding and working. Eventually, the dam wall broke, and we played out wide and scored.

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“I am thankful and grateful for the opportunity to prove myself and to go out there and play to the best of my ability. For some of the guys, we wanted to prove that we could hopefully punch our ticket to France and be part of the squad by performing.

“Team-wise it was a great win, just executing our plans, and hopefully we can go to the World Cup and defend our title. This was a big day.”

Meanwhile, loosehead prop Gerhard Steenekamp relished making his debut in the green and gold in the come-from-behind 24-13 win for the world champions.

The Boks rebounded from a poor first half to claim an eighth straight victory over the Pumas, and Steenekamp added: “I don’t have words [to sum up my debut], it was an indescribable experience.

“That was a good fightback in the second half. A rugby match is 80 minutes long, and it’s important that we show we can play for the full 80. It was an unbelievable performance from the guys, and I am thankful that I could be part of it.

“This surely ranks very, very high in terms of highlights in my career.”

Photo: Juan Mabromata/AFP

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