White backs Moodie to shine at fullback

DESPITE losing star fullback KurtLee Arendse, Bulls coach Jake White is confident that youngster Canan Moodie can handle the responsibility at No 15 in tonight’s United Rugby

Championship (URC) clash against Glasgow at Loftus Versfeld (7pm kickoff).

Arendse had an operation on a fractured thumb earlier this week, which will keep him off the field for anything between four and six weeks.

The former Blitzbok flyer sustained the knock in the 60th minute of last week’s 46-29 victory over Benetton, and now the race is on to get him fit for the final league game against the Ospreys in Wales on May 20.

But the more likely scenario that White will be hoping for is that Arendse returns for the quarter-final

on the weekend of June 4 – if the Pretoria side make it that far.

“It’s a fracture. He’s had a little screw put in to heal the bone.

“Around that is a ligament, so it’s one of those …

“Now that they’ve mended the bone, it’s just a question of how long it will take the ligament to come back,” White said yesterday.

“It’s not a major thing. A guy like Warrick (Gelant, who had a similar injury) has come back and played quicker than I suppose they anticipated, so hopefully we will be

in the same boat and Kurt-Lee will be back sooner rather than later.

“Luckily the specialist could get him in, and he operated on Wednesday or Tuesday, so it was quick. So, hopefully that will be a way in which we can get him on the field quicker than usual.”

Up steps 19-year-old Moodie, who has been a stand-out operator at right wing this season.

Hailing from Paarl, he is tall at 1.90m and weighs 90kg, so he has the physical attributes to handle the high ball.