The 19-year-old Canan Moodie is more the exception than the rule in easy transitions from schoolboy to Test rugby player.
The last time, in a South African context, I saw one so young do it was when Frans Steyn thrilled on the wing against Ireland in Dublin in 2006.
Steyn was super that night — strong in defence, brutal in contact and rugby poetry in scoring his first international try. He was even younger than Moodie.
Schalk Burger, as a 21-year-old, had a similar impact against Ireland, with Ireland’s coach at the time remarking that never before had his team been beaten so comprehensively by one player.
Handre Pollard, at 21, breezed onto the Test scene in his first year like he had been there for a decade and Bryan Habana, also just 21, looked at ease with the transition to Test rugby.
What was so glorious about Moodie’s impact was that he seemingly came out of nowhere in the past season, which just doesn’t happen in professional rugby. The sport invests in academies, strong youth programmes, and is reliant on very established schools that could be rugby institutions in how they churn out professional players.
Moodie went to Boland Landbou (Agricultural) school in the Western Cape. Landbou has a strong rugby culture, but it has never quite matched neighbours Paarl Boys High and Paarl Gymnasium for rugby prestige, and I say this with the qualifier of how many professional players and Springboks have been produced by the latter two.
However, the experience of a visit to the “FARM” for those early morning Saturday matches was always a parent highlight for me when watching my son play for SACS against Landbou. The hospitality was unmatched.
It is fitting that Springbok rugby’s story of 2022 has a history with Landbou — in an age when the sport rarely allows for a “bolter” to graduate so rapidly from school rugby to Test rugby.
A wonderful clip of Moodie was doing the rounds on social media this week. It was of him playing in the No 13 jersey for Landbou against SACS in the traditional pre-season rugby night at Newlands.
In that clip, Moodie’s outrageous skills in catching a ball behind his back, and transferring it safely into his hands en-route to scoring, made for a compelling moment.
There was also a clip posted of how Moodie trained in his backyard, with a rope and tyre when in lockdown. He was 18 years old at the time.
Jake White — who in 2004 told his senior Springboks that Steyn, then at Grey College, would be playing for the Springboks before the 2007 World Cup — last week also declared Moodie would play 100 Tests for the Boks.
It is fitting that Springbok rugby’s story of 2022 has a history with Landbou — in an age when the sport rarely allows for a 'bolter' to graduate so rapidly from school rugby to Test rugby
White this year picked Moodie for the Bulls URC team and predicted he would be a Springbok before the end of the year. White, when he picked Habana in 2006, also said the speedster would play 100 Tests. Habana would start in 122 of his 124 Tests and score 67 Test tries in a remarkable career.
White knows a rugby jewel when he sees one, and Moodie is a jewel.
There is something very special about Moodie’s running style and he glides more than he motors. It is more JP Pietersen-like — and that’s a big compliment.
Moodie’s first Test try, on debut against the Wallabies in Sydney, was a ripper. He soared into the air, Aussie Rules-style, won the ball, landed with precision and put on the afterburners.
It was an unprecedented moment from a kid whose inspiring route to the top is already a game changer for the next kid from the “FARM” who dreams of green and gold.
• Mark Keohane is the founder of keo.co.za, a multiple award-winning sports writer and the digital content director at Highbury Media. Twitter: @mark_keohane
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.