Moodie reflects on 'crazy' journey to World Cup

INTERVIEW: Still sporting his Springbok blazer, Canan Moodie reflected on the unreal moment he was selected for the World Cup squad.

It was one of the biggest moments in the 20-year-old’s career and he had to pinch himself to see if it was really true as he attended the Bulls awards in Pretoria.

“I’m still struggling for it to settle in,” Moodie said at the franchise’s event in Pretoria.

“If you would’ve told me four years ago when I was at school watching the World Cup, that four years later in 2023 I would be part of the 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 20-year-old 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.

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“It was so special coming from the World Cup squad announcement to the 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.”