Thaakir Abrahams injury return a boost for Munster ahead of Champions Cup

BOOST: Thaakir Abrahams returns from injury to play crucial role for Munster's win over Lions. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

URC: Munster 17 Lions 10

Munster got a much needed boost of confidence ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup start after seeing off the Emirates Lions at Thomond Park.

The 17-10 winning scoreline was just Munster’s third win of the URC season with new signing Thaakir Abrahams shining brightly.

The South African winger returned from injury on Saturday night and played a crucial role in the victory by scoring one try and creating another.

Abrahams has shown flashes of brilliance in his fleeting Munster appearances to date and Head of Rugby Operations, Ian Costello, will be hopeful that the former Lyon man can keep up that form ahead of a crucial block of games.

“He had two massive moments,” Costello said of Abrahams. “He scored a try out of nothing with a bouncing ball and have a look at where he came from to get on the end for Shane’s (Daly) try.

“He came from the left touchline and he covered 50/60 metres coming around, which is a big focus of Mike’s (Prendergast) attack. It was incredible and he is coming back off a long injury.

“When we looked at recruitment. I suppose we looked way back. We wanted something that was a little bit different than what we had and he is so explosive.

“His ability is ridiculous but it’s his character. We did a lot of background work on his character and what you see now is what we were told we would get. He has really added to the group and it’s great to see him back on the pitch.” Abrahams broke the deadlock on 16 minutes with the opening try but had already shown some promising touches before that, going close after Alex Nankivell unlocked the Lions defence.

It was a loose ball that Abrahams seized upon to open his Munster account with a try that Billy Burns converted.

However, Munster made an error from the restart and mistake after mistake followed for the rest of the half.

A Fineen Wycherley knock on near halfway didn’t seem to spell too much danger but Lions centre Henco van Wyk thought otherwise.

He took off and somehow found his way past five Munster tacklers to score a sensational five pointer for the visitors. Kade Wolhuter added the extras and a penalty to give the Lions a 10-7 advantage at the break.

A much more disciplined Munster arrived in the second half with captain Diarmuid Barron highlighting that conditions played a large part on the handling errors in the first 40.

“At times there we were a phase away from unlocking them. Conditions were tough. It was very greasy out there.

“Trying to hold onto the ball in big contacts was tough but we need to be better there. We spoke about that at half time.

“The Lions were putting in some good shots as well and that forced errors but we need to be tidier.” The improvements were immediate with Shane Daly soon in for a try after coming on at the break for the HIA stricken Mike Haley.

However, it was Abrahams that provided the spark with a sumptuous run down the right wing. He showed strength with a powerful handoff and then speed to burn, before handing to Daly for Munster’s second try.

Munster smelt blood at this stage and added a third try following another strong carry from Daly after a blindside move off the back of a scrum, with Alex Kendellan eventually providing the successful shunt.

Munster’s life could have been made easier if Burns had nailed either of the second half conversions but his radar was off and the misses gave the Lions a sniff of a comeback.

However, it was the home side that looked more likely to get another score but Munster had to settle for the win without the bonus point.

Munster will be boosted by the return of their Irish internationals for the visit of Stade Francais next week, knowing that a much improved performance will be needed if they are to open that campaign with another positive outcome at Thomond Park.

MUNSTER: M Haley (S Daly, h-t); S McCarthy, T Farrell, A Nankivell, T Abrahams; B Burns (T Butler, 60), E Coughlan (P Patterson, 51); D Bleuler (K Ryan, 67), D Barron (captain) (N Scannell, 60), J Ryan (S Archer, 55); E O’Connell (R Quinn, 71), F Wycherley; J O’Donoghue, A Kendellen (J Hodnett, 55), G Coombes.

LIONS: Q Horn; R Kriel, H van Wyk (E Cronje, 69), M Louw (captain), E van der Merwe (T Mafura, 73); K Wolhuter (S Nohamba, 44), M van den Berg; J Schoeman (M Naude, 55), PJ Botha (F Marais, 55), A Ntlabakanye (C van Vuuren, 55); R Schoeman (R Nothnagel, 57), R Delport; J Cairns, WJ Steenkamp (JC Pretorious, 69), F Horn.

Referee: A Jones (Wales).