Canan Moodie believes South Africa’s hard-fought 32-15 victory against Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Sunday will give the Springboks valuable momentum going into Saturday’s test against England at Twickenham.
England will be hurting after their unexpected 42-37 loss against Australia and will be desperate to set the record straight against the Boks.
The back-to-back World Champions rested most of their first choice players against Scotland to allow the bulk of the team to be fresh for the expected onslaught at the newly named Alliance Stadium in London.
“It’s a short turnaround to the England match, so we have to prepare well for that, but we’ll take confidence from that result (against Scotland). It was a tough first half, but the win was a good start to the tour,” said Moodie.
Moodie, who has also been making a strong statement in the team at wing and centre in the last few seasons, which also saw him lift the Webb Ellis Cup in France last year at the young age of only 20 years old, was delighted about the victory in his first Test match in Edinburgh.
“It was a good win for us, especially for me personally, since I haven’t played in five weeks,” said Moodie.
“It was my first game at Murrayfield, and it was very exciting to play there. It was another bucket list venue ticked off for me, and over and above that the atmosphere was very special, with a lot of South Africans coming out to support us, so it was very special.
“And then obviously scoring four tries and not leaking one, is something we are very pleased about.”
The Boks back-three of Moodie (22), Makazole Mapimpi (34) and Willie le Roux (35) combined brilliantly on attack and defence. Mapimpi once again showed his class by scoring a brace of tries from perfectly timed kick passes keeping up his ridiculous try scoring strike rate to 32 tries in 46 Tests.
Le Roux moved up to 98 tests, while Moodie impressed with his aerial skills on attack while keeping the strong running SA born Scottish winger Duhan van der Merwe with some monstrous hits.
Despite their brilliant display Bok coach Rassie Erasmus should revert to the rested back three combination of Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Aphelele Fassi in the huge clash against England.
Loose forward Kwagga Smith, who earned his 50th Test cap against Scotland reflected on the match on Monday, describing the occasion as “special.”
It was the opening match of the Boks’ 2024 Outgoing Tour and they scored four tries without reply against a resilient Scotland team that proved a handful on the day.
Smith, who is one of a select group of players who represented both the Blitzboks and Springboks, was delighted about the achievement and said the victory made the occasion even more special for him.
“Playing at Murrayfield and getting a win in my 50th game was very special,” said Smith.
“I thought Scotland played very well, and unfortunately, we made a lot of mistakes. But for the boys to pull it through and get the result was memorable and it’s a real honour to mark the occasion with this team.”
Looking back his journey from the national sevens team to the Springboks, where he is now one of several double Rugby World Cup winners in the touring squad, Smith said: “Playing sevens and going to the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as playing 35 tournaments for the Blitzboks was fantastic, but then one sets your next goal, and I wanted to be a Springbok.
“I didn’t think I’d get to 50 Test matches, so it’s an honour and special to give something back to this team.”
The Springboks travelled from Scotland to London on Monday and will begin training for their next assignment against England on Tuesday.
They will complete their tour on Saturday, 23 November, against Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
