VIDEO: No Moodie, Hooker for Ireland clash despite stellar showing
DUBLIN, IRELAND: Last Saturday, Springbok youngsters Canan Moodie and Ethan Hooker were thrown into the deep end, lining up against Italy’s dangerous midfield pairing in Turin.
Yet despite a sterling display by both, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is expected to turn to his trusted midfield duo of Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende to face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.
The last time a Springbok team won at that venue was in 2012 under former Bok coach Heyneke Meyer when they beat Ireland 16-12, and this team is determined to change that record.
This game will likely see the timely return of seasoned centre Garry Ringrose, who suffered a hamstring injury against the All Blacks on November 1 in Chicago.
This is after midfielder Stuart McCloskey sustained a second groin injury in the victory over Australia.
Bundee Aki, who replaced McCloskey when he hobbled off against the Wallabies, could form a dynamic partnership with Ringrose for the Springbok clash.
Moodie was a class act against the highly rated Italian centre pairing of Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello, seamlessly switching between carving open the opposition and his defence, which he did with aplomb.
He also ran a great line and produced the final offload for Grant Williams’ try.
Speaking to Rugby365 after the game in Turin, and with his mind already in Ireland mode, Moodie talked us through the match against the Azzurri, which delivered another red card and ten minutes of playing with 13 men.
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“We had a tough week of prep; we had to cover a lot. They had a different centre partnership with Brex coming in, [who is] more of a ball carrier, so it was tough preparing for them.
“But Ethan and I had the confidence to trust each other. The coaches wouldn’t have picked us if they didn’t believe that we could do the job, and we just took confidence out of that.
“Some things went their way [Italy], and we had to adapt,” Moodie reflected, and added, “We only played like twenty minutes together, but it was a nice challenge to go out there and face them.”
The Bulls centre said it was a difficult game with all the challenges the team faced, while Italy was buoyed coming off the massive victory over the Wallabies.
“It was very tough. They had a very good game against Australia last week, and we never thought it was going to be easy.
“They are big, physical ball players and good carriers. Also very different from earlier in the year, with players coming in.
“So we knew it was going to be a different challenge.
“It didn’t really go our way with the early red card, but we adapted and made plans, and we got the win.”
The physical battle in the Italians’ 22 was immense, and Erasmus also referred to those moments when the Springboks were tackled back time and time again.
Moodie agrees, saying: “We did our homework, and in their 22, they are a very physical team. They don’t let teams score easily, so we knew we had to get certain things right.”
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Looking ahead at this weekend at the Aviva Stadium, Moodie commented: “Ireland is going to be a big one. We [under coach Rassie Erasmus] haven’t won there, so it’s going to be a good challenge for this group.
“We will take the day off to refresh, and on Monday, we will hit the ground running and start preparing for Ireland.”
The Springboks arrived at their hotel in Dublin on Sunday afternoon, where hooker Bongi Mbonambi and prop Ntuthuko Mchunu joined up with the side soon afterwards.
The pair were called up to help prepare the squad for their final two matches, against Ireland and Wales, on tour.
Erasmus opted not to replace the two locks, Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert, after both received permanent red cards on two consecutive weekends.
The Springbok team to face Ireland will be announced on Thursday afternoon.
