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 Vodacom Bulls awards evening in Pretoria this week.
“I’m still struggling for it to settle in. If you would’ve told me four years ago when I was at school watching the Rugby World Cup, 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,” said a delighted Moodie.
The 20-year-old Vodacom Bulls prodigy was cheered and congratulated by his teammates as he arrived for the glittering 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 Vodacom Bulls awards and seeing all my teammates 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.”
But amongst 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.”
