Jake White delivers bad news on Boks rookie Moodie

One of the Bulls’ most talented and exciting players, Canan Moodie, will miss the Springboks’ year-end tour through injury.

The bad news was delivered by Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White, while addressing the media in the build-up to their United Rugby Championship Round Four encounter with Glasgow Warriors at the Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday.

Teenage sensation Moodie is set to be sidelined till the end of November, after suffering a hamstring injury in the Bulls’ over Irish province Connacht at Loftus Versfeld last Friday.

Capped three times this year, the 19-year-old scored a blue-ribbon try on debut in South Africa’s 24-8 demolition of Australia in Sydney last month.

However, he won’t be on the flight when the Boks depart for Europe next month – where they will face Ireland, France, Italy and England.

“At this stage, it looks that he will be sidelined for about eight weeks,” White said of the young flyer’s injury.

“He won’t play any part in the remainder of our [URC tour] matches [before the November break] and probably won’t be available to tour with the Springboks either,” the Bulls boss added.

White said he hoped Moodie would be back by the end of November, when the Bulls start the second part of their campaign.

Hooker Johan Grobbelaar has undergone surgery, after the burly front row forward damaged his ankle in the same match against the Irish province last week.

“That is between six and eight weeks,” White said of the Bok training squad member.

The good news is that another Bok flyer on the Bulls’ books, Sibusiso Nkosi, has recovered from the concussion he suffered against Connacht.

The 26-year-old, who played the last of his 16 Tests against New Zealand in October last year, will join the Bulls on tour in Europe at the weekend.

He has completed his Return to Play protocols.

The Bulls, after Saturday’s outing at the Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow, also face Munster (October 15) and Benetton (October 21).