Although the Bulls claimed an important 28-14 win over Connacht in the URC this past weekend, which included a bonus-point try that was scored by Canan Moodie, the young winger surprisingly came under fire from coach Jake White.
Moodie has had a bit of a stop-start year, with injuries having stalled his progress at times, and in the end the 22-year-old only started in two Tests for the Springboks this year.
The youngster has featured in all six of the Bulls’ United Rugby Championship matches so far this season, but after this past weekend’s game performance, White bluntly called Moodie’s conditioning into question after returning from the Springboks’ end-of-year tour.
“He looked at times like he had eaten too much food at the buffet for the last month while he was on tour. I said that to him. I think he is going to have to start staying away from the buffet,” White said with a stern look.
“Generally I expect 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 couple of days,” he added.
In one reaction on social media, it was suggested that White was guilty of throwing his players under the bus, with former Springbok coach AJ Venter also weighing in: “You sound surprised?” Venter responded. “He has been doing that for years.”
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RECAP OF THE BULLS’ LATEST RESULT
The Bulls continued their fine form in the URC as they delivered a classy attacking display against Connacht in Galway on Saturday to register their third win ever against the Irish outfit, outscoring the hosts by four tries to two for a rewarding 28-14 win.
The Gauteng side made a strong statement on attack from the outset, making their way close to the tryline as early as the second minute, and their intent paid off with two first-half tries by Sebastian de Klerk and Embrose Papier – the second of which was after Connacht were reduced to 14 men after being shown a red card for a dangerous tackle. This earned the Bulls an encouraging 14-0 lead at the break.
The visitors, however, could have held a bigger lead had it not been for a crucial error close to the tryline and the solid defence respectively, which cost them two realistic chances to score further tries.
They built on this with two more tries in the third quarter compliments on David Kriel and Moodie, which saw them stretch their lead to 28-0, but a red card to Celimpilo Gumede for shoving a player dangerously in the face, levelled the playing numbers, which allowed Connacht finish the match strongly with two tries in the final quarter to reduce their deficit to 28-14.
Both teams tried hard to add to their score in the dying minutes, but were shut out by the tenacious defence, which saw the Bulls walk away with the rewarding bonus-point victory, which marked their fifth in six outings in the competition so far.
Scorers:
Connacht 14 (0) – Tries: David Hankshaw, Caolin Blade. Conversions: Cathal Forde (2).
Vodacom Bulls 28 (14) – Tries: Sebastian de Klerk, Embrose Papier, David Kriel, Canan Moodie. Conversions: Johan Goosen (4).
