‘Less experienced Springboks have full trust of the coaches’
· Citizen
Despite sending out a much less experienced team than usual, Springbok utility back Canan Moodie says the players are fully confident that they can go out and do the business in their Nations Championship second round match against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday (kick-off 5:40pm).
Last week the Boks named a massively experienced match 23 to face England, featuring 1099 caps, and even after the late withdrawal of two Springbok centurions, in captain Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth, their match day squad still boasted 856 caps.
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This weekend the match 23 to face Scotland is far less, with 514 caps across the playing squad, with the bench particularly inexperienced with just 69 caps shared between the eight players on it.
The team still boast a few players with plenty of experience, in captain Pieter-Steph du Toit (96 caps) Jesse Kriel (88), Handre Pollard (85) and Damian Willemse (50).
Internationally inexperienced
But there are far more internationally inexperienced players in the side, especially coming off the bench, which means if they find themselves in trouble in the second half the Boks won’t have many tried and tested reinforcements to call on.
Despite that Moodie explained that the team were fully backed by the coaching staff to go and get a positive result, and that now it was up to the players to go and deliver on that.
“I think having experience and caps does count. But we have a big group of guys who have seen a lot of pictures and played a lot of Tests just helping (the less experienced) guys and making sure they know what to expect,” said Moodie.
“What helps is that the coaches trust and fully believe in us. They believe we are good enough to go out there and do the job. So I think our focus is not on how much experience we have, but on just going out there and doing what we need to do on the day.
“We have a lot of experienced players (in the entire Bok squad) who are making sure we are as well prepared as we possibly can be, and then it is just down to us to go out there and do it on Saturday.”
Dangerous Scotland
Speaking about the dangers Scotland possess, particularly with players like star flyhalf Finn Russell, captain and inside centre Sione Tuipulotu and wing Kyle Steyn, Moodie said they would be ready for that challenge.
“They are dangerous with the ball in hand. Scotland are an attack-minded team, and they have the ball players to do that. We saw in the Argentina match that they are continuing to go wide. We will be well prepared for that,” said Moodie.
On a personal note Moodie will be turning out for the Boks on the wing this weekend, having often played at outside centre, and said he was just happy to get a chance to represent the national side again, and doesn’t mind where he plays.
“Any time you put on the green and gold jersey it is a special occasion, and you do everything possible to make sure you play the best game you can for your country,” admitted Moodie.
“Versatility is a big thing with the Springboks, but my job this weekend is on the wing. I’ll try to execute that as best I can, with high balls, defensive structure and on attack. That’s where I’m needed this weekend, and I am happy to oblige.”