“It’s my dream to play for Springboks,” states Munster speedster craving inclusion into South Africa crèches of scrum-capped wingers
Superb new Munster signing Thaakir Abrahams lets in to the real dream – a call up to the Springboks – as he slowly adjusts to life in Limerick.
The hot-stepping Abrahams is definitely spoon-forged with the same loft of castings as Boks wings Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse and perhaps his path has taken him to the Sharks, Lyon in France, and now Munster.
Rocky start
His relocation was not without hassles of being separated from his wife and child and sustaining a severe thigh injury within a few days of being at the club.
“Yeah, obviously not the start I would have wanted,” he told the Irish Independent. “Coming here being injured, but it has been good since. I have just been trying to come back and actually contribute towards the team, getting better, getting fitter, stronger, whatever I can contribute to the team. Just my main focus coming back, really. So for that very reason, it’s good to be back.”
Abrahams loves the city and says his new Munster teammates have been friendly during these first few weeks.
“It’s a really cool city, actually,” he said. “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.”
“Lot of the lads were reaching out to me before I came. So I was just talking to them on daily [basics] and just when I came here just, like catching up with them because 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
He recalls those nostalgic past days as a young boy who was dreaming big as a bright athlete of the various sports, in which he used to compete in schools.
“I was always in the top three in the school and always up there,” he reminisces. “I always put an effort to it every training, including when I was injured now as well trying to work on that to come back faster, come back stronger, just something I always work on. Growing up, I tried my hand at just about everything.
“Oh, I even did karate and cricket in South Africa. Asher was a cricket fan; I’m really cool. The rest was athletics. I think I was everywhere while growing up. And then entering high school, ceasing to broaden horizons and mainly focusing on athletics and rugby. It was mandatory to adopt a winter sport, and a summer sport. Summer sports is athletics, whereas rugby is your kind of winter sport.”
He measured his own speed 100m and spoke in a way that would get any defender shaking in their boots.
“Well, maybe my 100m was about 10.8 seconds. That’s a time long past, really!”.
Though this superstar is presently in Munster, his heart beats for the opportunity of playing in the Green and Gold and understands that all this starts with a strong performance for Munster.
“Of course, it’s my dream to play for the Springboks,” he adds. “I’m just trying to play the best rugby I can produce for Munster-it’s just my main goal for now.”
