VIDEO: Thaakir Abrahams opens up on joining Munster
SPOTLIGHT: New Munster outside back Thaakir Abrahams speaks about how he got into the game, his time at the Sharks and Lyon and how he’s experiencing Munster has been so far.
The elusive speedster who also have deceptive strength joined Munster after spending a season with Lyon in France where he scored five tries in as many Champions Cup appearances.
The former South Africa U20 international captained his former high school (Paarl Boys High) before helping the Junior Springboks to a bronze-medal finish at the 2019 U20 World Cup.
Abrahams came through the Western Province age-group ranks before making the switch to the Sharks in Durban where he made his Super Rugby debut in 2020.
During his three seasons in the Sharks senior side – Abrahams impressed in the Currie Cup, Super Rugby, URC and Champions Cup competitions before making the move to Lyon.
He has an eye for the spectacular and was nominated for the 2022/3 URC Try of the Season for his incredible solo try against Leinster.
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Following his pre-season outing against Gloucester at Musgrave Park, Abrahams made his Munster debut against Connacht in the opening round of the 2024/5 URC season.
“It’s been good, the first week the guys were off and the second week I started training so it’s been good and welcoming.” said Abrahams.
He added: “I was still trying to get all the calls and just to get everything into my mind, rugby is rugby but it’s new calls I just had to learn really quickly.”
He spoke about how his love for the game started and when he started playing the sport.
“I started playing quite early, I have a big family that’s rugby crazy, so I started back in Paarl in the Western Cape at six/seven years old.”
He also opened up on his first time in a Munster jersey in the pre-season clash against Gloucester.
“It was good to kind of test myself to see where I’m at as well, I haven’t been playing for about four months now so it’s been good getting out there.”
Abrahams gave his thoughts on his stint with Lyon and how far he got to nailing the French language during his short stint.
“I really loved it, I learned so much, obviously they have the ‘French flair’ and also learning a bit of French as well, I can probably understand it more than I can speak it, which is okay.”
“I loved the rugby, I loved the city so it was quite good for me, Lyon is a good city.” Abrahams added.
On describing himself as a player, he explained his strengths and also mentioned his work-on’s he’s been doing.
“I like to be quite elusive, I like to have the ball in my hand quite a lot so I love to move around the field and get my hands on the ball and just beating players and scoring tries, and getting up on defence as well which I’ve been working on.”
Watch the full interview below…
