From buffet to ‘he’s got class’: Jake White praises Canan Moodie for Bulls impact in Edinburgh loss

Canan Moodie has had to endure arguably the most difficult period of his career over the last six months.

And no, it wasn’t about having to play for the Springboks at the highest level.

Having turned 22 last November, Moodie has faced almost unfathomable challenges that halted his progress.

He had spent nine weeks in Europe, first as part of the Bulls squad for their United Rugby Championship trip, and then immediately joined the Springboks for their three-Test schedule against Scotland, England and Wales.

Moodie remained up north as the Bulls returned for a URC game against Connacht and then the Champions Cup opener against Saracens in London.

The youngster from Paarl only featured against Scotland, though, and following a few hesitant carries with ball-in-hand against Connacht, he received public criticism from his Bulls coach Jake White in the infamous “buffet” saga.

“He looked at times like he had eaten too much food at the buffet while he was on (the Bok) tour for the last month. I said that to him. I think he is going to have to start staying away from the buffet,” White said during the post-match press conference.

“When he got away a couple of times, I thought he would finish. But as I said, I think we will have to keep him away from the buffet for a while.”

Moodie got a well-deserved break after that, and then returned to action off the bench before starting once more to earn his 50th Bulls cap in the 33-32 victory over the Stormers in Cape Town in early February.

He produced a top performance that day, but in the return clash against the Cape side in Pretoria on March 1, he sustained concussion early on at a wet Loftus Versfeld, and was sidelined until his return for Saturday’s Challenge Cup quarter-final against Edinburgh in Scotland.

Moodie had to wait until early in the second half to make an appearance off the bench, with Sergeal Petersen going off with an elbow injury.

But what an impact the 12-cap Springbok made.

Moodie combined brilliantly with flyhalf Johan Goosen on a number of occasions down the right flank, running with real conviction whenever retrieving a loose ball or kick from the back, and putting in a few clever grubbers too.

It looked like the Moodie of old, and even though the Bulls came up short to go down 34-28 against Edinburgh, White had only words of praise for the right wing this time around.

“Unbelievable. I don’t want you to write anything about buffets and things anymore, please guys!” the Bulls director of rugby quipped about Moodie.

“I mean, he’s got class, you know. And he’s been out for a while, and to have him back, I mean, all the touches he had today were outstanding.

“And I’m happy for him, because there’s an example. He went through a stage where, when he came back into the team after international rugby, people know who he is. And he played against, I mean, international wingers (Darcy Graham and Ross McCann).

“So, for him to create the space and opportunities he did, and that sort of thing, is going to give him massive amounts of confidence.”

Goosen also continued his comeback from a knee injury in impressive fashion.

Although starting No 10 Keagan Johannes was unlucky to be taken off during halftime as he didn’t do anything wrong in the opening 40 minutes, White called on the experience of Goosen to spark the attack.

It worked wonders, as the Bulls nearly recovered from a 31-7 deficit to miss out on victory by six points.

“The thought process was very simple: he’s our number-one number 10,” White said about bringing on Goosen for Johannes.

“He’s come back from a long injury, and I basically blooded him as he played 20 minutes last week and 40 minutes this week.

“Ruan Nortjé is the same: 20 minutes, then 40 last week and 60 this week. That’s all part of being aware that not everyone is 80-minute game-ready.

“But you know how much I rate him (Goosen), how much I talk about him in terms of how we want to play.

“So, to have him for 40 minutes where our backs were against the wall, I think he showed everybody how important he is to us at the Bulls.”

Both Moodie and Goosen are likely to be back in the starting line-up for the Bulls’ next match, the URC clash against Munster in Limerick on Saturday (6.15pm kick-off).