Moodie's take on being the backline's 'voice'
SPOTLIGHT: Springbok utility back Canan Moodie has opened up on his experience of playing at outside centre for the national side.
The 22-year-old World Cup winner started his Test career on the wing against Australia in 2022 and scored a magnificent try on debut.
In his 19 Tests to date, he played his first seven Tests on the right wing position, of which one was off the bench against England at Twickenham in 2022.
He played at outside centre for the first time against the All Blacks in a World Cup warm-up match where the Boks demolished their old foes by 35-7, also at Twickenham.
Since then, he has been shifted between outside centre, right wing and played once on the left against New Zealand at Eden Park.
He has now played back-to-back Tests in the No.13 jumper during the Rugby Championship against New Zealand and Argentina, respectively.
Moodie spoke about playing in the No.13 jersey and the growth he experienced in that role.
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“I quite like the outside centre jersey. That channel is one I quite enjoy.
“The challenges on defence and being a leader in that regard to be the voice of the [backline] defence, I’m quite enjoying that.
“And also, coach Tony [Brown] has been helping me with my skillset in that position as well to play to my strengths, and I’m enjoying the position.”
Moodie has played with three different centres on his inside so far this season in Damian de Allende, Damian Willemse and André Esterhuizen.
The Paarl native said that he doesn’t find the changes to his inside to be difficult and praised his teammates who do duty with him in the midfield.
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“It’s easy for me when you have world-class athletes on your inside,” Moodie told @rugby365com.
“They make the job a lot easier for me.
“All three are devastating ball carriers and good communicators, which makes my role easier.
“We all have a job to do on the weekend, and whoever is in that role goes on and executes it to the best of their ability.”
As mentioned, Moodie’s first taste in the No.13 jersey came against the All Blacks in 2023.
Moodie scored a brilliant try in that match, but it was chalked off as he was deemed to be offside at the previous breakdown.
He spoke about the good memories the team has at Twickenham, but said their focus will solely be on Argentina in the Boks’ quest to defend their Rugby Championship title.
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“We have good memories at Twickenham, but we won’t take the rematch against Argentina lightly.
“They’re going to come out hard, and they’re a very passionate nation.
“They’re going to have a hard look at this one [loss in Durban] and they’re going to come back fighting this coming weekend.
“We will focus on ourselves and make sure we do the job and not look at all the other stuff and get the job done on Saturday.”
