Springbok utility back Canan Moodie remained humble after the team’s comprehensive 67-30 victory against the Pumas in Durban on Saturday as they prepared to travel to London on Sunday evening for their closing Castle Lager Rugby Championship match.
Next Saturday’s Test, which kicks off at 15h00 (SA time) at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, is set to be the Championship decider, and Moodie said the Boks would remain grounded and keep working hard to defend the title.
As the Boks currently sit top of the table on 15 points, they will know exactly what they need to do to clinch the title by the time they take the field, as New Zealand (14 points) and Australia (11 points) will battle it out in their final Bledisloe Cup match earlier in the day.
The Pumas, in fourth place on nine points, are out of the running for the title.
The entire squad that was selected for the Argentina leg of the tournament will depart for London on Sunday night from Johannesburg and arrive in the UK on Monday morning, before returning to the training field on Tuesday.
“The Rugby Championship has not been won yet,” Moodie said after the match.
“We know there’s still a job to do next week, and there's an element of travel on Sunday, so we'll just keep our heads down and continue doing the hard work to hopefully get the result next weekend. Then we’ll have something to celebrate.”
Moodie expected a massive backlash from the Pumas, who have already beaten the All Blacks, Wallabies, and British & Irish Lions this season.
“I think we have good memories from Twickenham, but we certainly won’t be taking the second game against Argentina lightly,” he said.
“They’ll come hard at us because they are a very passionate rugby nation, and they’ll look hard at Saturday’s game and come back fighting.
“That said, we have to focus on ourselves and ensure we do the job, rather than looking at all the other stuff. For us, the focus is on trying to do the job on Saturday.”
With the Boks outscoring their opponents by nine tries to three, following another impressive attacking display after their record-breaking 43-10 victory against the All Blacks in Wellington two weeks ago, in which they scored six tries to one by the hosts, the Rugby World Cup winner was pleased with the trajectory the team was on.
“We try to stick to our structures and after halftime don’t try to go off script,” said Moodie, who was denied a try by a matter of inches as the ball touched the dead-ball line before he could ground it.
“It’s definitely a reason why it’s going well, and it's definitely a credit to that, and trying to stick to our system. We have a good balance of how we’re doing things, and it seems to be working for us.”
Moodie praised Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu for his Player of the Match performance on Saturday, when the exciting Bok flyhalf set a new SA record for the most points scored by a player in a Test with a personal tally of 37 points, which included a memorable hat-trick.
“It was amazing to see,” said Moodie. “You could see he was full of confidence, and it was great to see him score some good tries. It’s always good when a player can express himself. We give each other confidence.”
Moodie also complemented the depth at centre within the Bok squad and said: “Andre (Esterhuizen) and Damian (de Allende) are world-class athletes. They are both devastating ball carriers. As a group, we all have a job to do, and we all just go out there and execute it to the best of our ability, which makes it easier for me.”
