Canan Moodie had a ‘tour from hell’ towards the end of last year.
It’s not as if the actual rugby was a problem, but rather the fact that he spent nine weeks in Europe from early October to early December, encompassing the United Rugby Championship, Champions Cup and Springbok Tests.
That saw him get a breather at the Bulls, and he started playing off the bench in a few games.
But he was back in the No 14 jersey for last week’s blockbuster showdown with the Stormers in Cape Town, and was full of running in the 33-32 Bulls victory.
Moodie also celebrated his 50th Bulls match, adding that it was “very special to have my parents there as they came onto the field – and it was also their first experience of coming onto the field, seeing all this, and their son being a professional rugby player and getting his 50th cap for the Bulls”.
The 22-year-old Bok utility back – who again said that he would play wherever he was needed, whether it was at outside centre or wing – didn’t get many opportunities with ball-in-hand, though, as he had to mainly chase up-and-unders.
But the speedster from Paarl is hoping to get more ball-in-hand in Saturday’s URC clash against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld (5pm kick-off).
“(I am) feeling good. I had a bit of off time after that long tour. So, I could get the mind fresh, get the body fresh,” Moodie said this week.
“So, I feel very motivated to go train. We’ve got our big stretch of games coming up – all the derbies – and then going on tour again to play some big teams overseas before the playoffs.
“I want to strike some good form before the playoffs come. As a winger, that’s your job: to chase high balls.
“But obviously, you want to score some tries, get the ball in your hands as well... There were a few opportunities on the weekend, but it didn’t come my way.
“Just how the game went, we knew that we had to play a certain way to get a win. The Stormers are a very good team, so I knew going into that game that it was going to be my job (to chase high balls).
“Hopefully in the upcoming games at Loftus, we can spread the ball a bit wide and give the wingers a bit of a chance to score some tries.”
Moodie won’t be squaring off with fellow Bok wing Makazole Mapimpi, who is suspended, but the Sharks do have a number of attacking threats out wide.
Young backs Jurenzo Julius and Ethan Hooker have been stand-outs for the Durban outfit this season.
But the Bulls have their own weapons out wide, such as Moodie, Devon Williams, Sergeal Petersen and Harold Vorster, and the Pretoria side also want to make up for last December’s 20-17 defeat at Kings Park.
“That December one hurt us quite a bit. We went there to try to get a win, and it didn’t go our way. We let it slip out of our hands, so I think we’ll remember that, and we will be reminded by the coaches about that game,” Moodie said.
“We feel like we owe them one, and what better place to do it than at Loftus. I think every time they’ve come here, we got a win. So, it’s just keeping that hurt from December, and not letting it slip.
“The kinds of players they have are world-class players, so it was bound to happen at some point.
“They are getting the coaching right, and doing all the things to perform well in this competition. That December one... we really let that one slip by.
“They had injuries, but now some of them are coming back, and they will just get better.”