Canan Moodie was nonetheless sporting his Springbok blazer and pinching himself to see if it was actually true as he got here straight from being introduced in the Rugby World Cup squad to the Bulls awards night in Pretoria final week.
“I’m still struggling for it to settle in,” mentioned 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 solely made his Bok debut final yr after enjoying a handful of video games for his provincial group, was cheered and congratulated by his team-mates as he arrived for the gala night to mark the group’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,” mentioned Moodie.
“These are the guys you spend most of your days with, so it was actually particular 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 yr on from first call-up
But amongst all of the congratulations, Moodie mentioned it was a message from his mom that touched him the most.
“My mom really 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 presently in the UK making ready for his or her second Rugby World Cup warm-up match towards Wales in Cardiff this weekend. They’ll then tackle the All Blacks at Twickenham subsequent Friday earlier than heading to France.
The Boks’ opening sport at the World Cup is towards Scotland on September 9.
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