Canan Moodie

Canan Moodie (born 5 November 2002) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the Bulls in the URC and South Africa national team. His regular position is wing.

Canan Moodie was born and raised in Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa. He initially attended Paarl Boys' Primary School and then chose to board at Boland Agricultural High School. This allowed him to focus on rugby development, away from home. At school, he played rugby as a centre, winning a high school championship. He also represented the Western Province's youth teams in 2019 and 2020.

After completing high school, he joined the Blue Bulls Academy in Pretoria; competing in the 2021 RSA provincial under-20 championship.

In the same year, he was selected for the South African under-20 team to compete in the International Series, a Covid-19 induced replacement series for the Junior World Championship. He performed well, scoring two braces against Uruguay and Argentina.

Moodie was named in the side for the 2022 Currie Cup Premier Division. He made his Currie Cup debut for the Blue Bulls against the in Round 2 of the 2022 Currie Cup Premier Division. During his first professional match on 19 January 2022 against Western Province, scoring on his debut.

Shortly after his professional debut, he joined the Bulls franchise during their first season of the United Rugby Championship (URC). He quickly became a starter in the team coached by Jake White. His side made the 2022 championship playoffs, finishing as runners-up.

Moodie is the youngest player in the South Africa national team at the age of 21 years old, as of January 2024.

International career
In August 2022, he was included in the Springboks touring squad for away matches against Australia in the Rugby Championship. In his Test debut against Australia in Sydney, Moodie scored a try in the 38th minute.

He earned his first cap as the second youngest player to ever play for the Springboks.

In June 2023, he was included in the wider 40-player squad for the 2023 Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup training camp. Two months later, he was also named in the final 33-person South Africa squad for the 2023 World Cup in France.

Honours

 * International
 * Rugby World Cup champion 2023
 * United Rugby Championship runner-up 2021–22