New Munster signing Thaakir Abrahams revealed his dream of playing for the Springboks as he adapts to life in Limerick.
Hot-stepping Abrahams is certainly one of the same cloth as Boks wings Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse but his career has taken him from the Sharks to Lyon in France and now to Munster.
Rocky start
The move was not without its challenges as he was separated from his partner and child as well as suffering a thigh injury early on in his time at the club.
“Yeah, obviously not the start that I wanted,” he told the Irish Independent. “Coming here being injured, but it’s been good. I’ve just been trying to come back and actually contribute to the team, just getting better, getting fitter, stronger, whatever I can contribute to the team. I think that was just my main focus coming back. So yeah, it’s good to be back.”
Abrahams enjoys the city and revealed the Munster players have been very welcoming during the early stages of his time with the province.
“Great city [Limerick] actually. Small, just like my hometown. The guys showed me around and there’s always something to do. The lads are always planning something, good coffee shops,” he said.
“A lot of the lads reached out to me before I came. So I was just speaking to them on daily [basis] and just when I got here, just like catching up with them because when I got here it was like a week off and then we had training. It was actually quite good coming here having that week to chat to the guys, catching up, like how things are here.”
Multi-talented
Abrahams recalled his younger days when he was a promising athlete playing a variety of sports at school.
“I was always top three in the school and always up there,” he recalls. “I’ve tried to work on it in every training and when I was injured now as well, trying to work on that to come back faster, come back stronger. It’s always something I work on. I did a bit of everything growing up.
“I even did karate and cricket in South Africa. Cricket is quite big. I did athletics, I was everywhere growing up. And then going to high school, I mainly focused on athletics and rugby. We had to have one winter sport, one summer sport. So athletics was summer and then rugby was more like your winter sport.”
When asked about his speed in the 100m he reported a time that will have defenders shaking in their boots.
The star may be in Munster but his heart longs for a chance in the Green and Gold and he knows that all starts with strong form for Munster.
“Obviously it’s my dream to play for the Springboks,” he adds. “I’m just trying to play the best rugby that I can produce for Munster – that’s just my main goal for the moment.”
