A pesar de dos temporadas plagadas de lesiones, la forma de Joe Moody en 2023 está alimentando los rumores en torno a la camiseta número 1 de los All Blacks. Unos meses más tarde, abandonó el equipo por completo.
El entrenador de los All Blacks, Ian Foster, y el entrenador de forwards, Jason Ryan, no hicieron cambios en sus selecciones de primera fila en el Rugby Championship al seleccionar su equipo para la Copa Mundial de Rugby, alineando un grupo relativamente inexperto.
Se espera que Ethan de Groot y Tyrell Lomax continúen como titulares en el torneo con 16 y 26 partidos internacionales respectivamente. Nepo Laulala y Ofa Tu’ungafasi son los jugadores veteranos del grupo con 49 y 53 partidos internacionales respectivamente, mientras que el dúo de los Crusaders, Fletcher Newell y Tamity Williams, son jóvenes con sólo nueve partidos internacionales entre ellos.
The experience of 57-test Moody, an All Black since 2014, might have been considered a necessity by some given the emphasis placed on experience for World Cup campaigns.
But for the selectors, Moody’s lack of game time was too big of a hurdle to overcome in time for the showpiece tournament.
“With the compilation of his time off and our programme, and having to go into the first part of the World Cup fully loaded, we just wanted him to go get some game-time in the meantime. We’ve got a lot of faith in him, he’s a special player… and hopefully, there’s going to be an opportunity later for him,” Foster said of the omission.
That game time comes from Moody’s NPC duties with Canterbury, where he made his return from injury over the weekend in a win over Manawatu.
The prop spoke to the media on Tuesday where he revealed how his selection conversation with Foster played out.
“It was a somewhat, not a heated conversation, but I did sort of… I didn’t try to change Fozzie’s mind or anything, but I did kind of argue my case when they said I wasn’t going to be ready for the opening rounds of the World Cup,” Moody said.
“I thought the two weeks of NPC, the game in London, I would have been in a pretty good state. But, apparently, that wasn’t the way they saw it.”
The 40 minutes of NPC action Moody saw over the weekend came after the All Blacks left for Europe on Friday, and were the prop’s first minutes since rupturing a tendon in his ankle back in May.
Knowing what he has achieved and what he can contribute at the international level, the 33-year-old says he was gearing up for a return to the world’s biggest rugby arena. Now, he’s reframing his thinking to contribute to Canterbury.
“The first couple of days was pretty tough. That’s an understatement, really.
“I’d set goals for myself for what I wanted to achieve this year, and basically being told I can’t achieve those goals any more. So getting used to that those first couple of days was tough to wrap my head around.
“There is no way that I can turn up here trying to be some kind of sourpuss or anything each day when you come in. I’m with the Canterbury side now, and it’s all go ahead.”
It’s not the first time Moody has missed selection for a World Cup, being left out of 2015’s squad. He was called into the team for the second half of that tournament and may well be the next man up if injury strikes again this time around.
The veteran finds no comfort in the familiarity of his position though, with the experience of starting in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, his expectations are a lot higher than the cards he has been dealt.
“I feel like the only similarity from 2015 to here is the fact I didn’t get selected. When I look at 2015, to be honest, I didn’t deserve to be named in that initial squad. I think [Wyatt] Crockett y Tony Woodcock jugaban al fútbol mucho mejor que yo.
«Esta vez, el momento de la lesión realmente me disparó en el pie, por así decirlo. Toda la situación es completamente diferente, pero al mismo tiempo terminará con un resultado similar. Veamos qué pasa», dijo. .
«Músico. Comunicador. Freelance geek de la cultura pop. Escritor incondicional. Entusiasta de los zombis amigable con los hipster».
