Noel McNamara helped Thaakir Abrahams improve his ability to find space within a game
SCAN AND FIND: Thaakir Abrahams' comes up against former coach Noel McNamara when Munster take on Bordeaux Bègles on Saturday in the Champions Cup quarter-final. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady
Do Munster have Bordeaux-Bègles attack coach Noel McNamara to thank for the moment of magic that set them on the road to a famous victory at La Rochelle last Saturday?
Thaakir Abrahams’ explanation of what the former Ireland U20s head coach did for his game when he was starting out at the Sharks may encapsulate what went into his brilliant counter-attack at Stade Marcel-Deflandre. It was a break which showcased the South African’s step, acceleration and outrageous pace to set Craig Casey up for Munster’s opening try of a 25-24 Champions Cup Round of 16 victory in France last weekend, which sets up a quarter-final in Bordeaux this Saturday and a reunion with McNamara.
"Yeah, obviously that is what we train for,” Abrahams said. “As I made the break, all I could hear was Craig Casey on my inside, so I had to give him the ball!
"I like to scan to see where the space is on the field and also create the space. Obviously you train for that and you use your abilities to get there. It is something I train and always work on.
"You kind of try to manipulate the play as you go. So, as I went, I kind of pulled one guy (Levani Botia) to the side and I knew it was going to create a lag with his catch-up (chasers). I pulled him to one side and just took the gap.
“Fortunately there was no one behind him. I just used my pace to get through the gap there."
As for McNamara’s contribution to the attributes that convinced Munster to sign Abrahams last summer from French Top 14 club Lyon, the former South Africa U20 star said: “He’s a really good coach, a real quality coach.
“He likes his unstructured attack as well and Bordeaux is all about that so we’ll be wary about how his system is.
“He encouraged me to see the space, and he brought in a lot of scanning into the game when I was there, where the space is and actually taking the space when it gets there. That’s exactly how Bordeaux plays as well.”
Abrahams had been playing his first game back from a dislocated shoulder sustained against Castres in the Champions Cup pool stages last December and his removal from the fray against La Rochelle hinted at another potentially lengthy spell on the sidelines. Fortunately, the 26-year-old had just been feeling the effects of his comeback, some severe cramp in his quad muscle ending his participation on 54 minutes.
The curtailed evening did not spoil Abrahams’ appreciation of the occasion, something he had not experienced in his five prior appearances for Munster as the Red Army of more than 3,000 supporters took over the French port town on the day of the game.
"Honestly, I didn't know the away support was so crazy. It was really unreal for us. To see that for the first time, I was really blown away. Driving in on the bus, obviously you see just red flags, it felt like a home game coming in. It was good for us.
”It does give you belief and you do feel it in the game as well because you hear the Munster chants and you hear them next to the field. It is special for us and it does give us a boost in the game as well."
It came at just the right time for Abrahams after a stop-start debut season, having been sidelined by a thigh injury for two months in just the second week of the URC campaign last September.
"Yeah, obviously I always try to give my best in the game and yeah, I haven't had the best start to my Munster career here due to injury.
"And, man, I was so excited to get out there and just live it up and just enjoy it with the lads because it was a hard four months for me – just to see them playing and to see them enjoying it out there. I really wanted to be part of it. Coming back and playing a game like that against La Rochelle, I really enjoyed that."
Abrahams said he has been playing rugby since he was very young, on the streets of Paarl in South Africa’s Western Cape, 60 kilometres north-east of Cape Town.
“I grew up with a rugby ball in my hands. A big rugby family. I’m one of eight children and everyone played, my uncles played rugby, their uncles played rugby, all my cousins played rugby when all of us were similar ages.
“Everyone played tough rugby in the streets. I played with all my cousins since I was five, six, seven years old.
“Growing up I thought ‘Oh man, there’s nothing to do’ (in Paarl), but going back if I’m on holiday you kind of appreciate it more than you’re away from it.”
Abrahams caught the attention of the Sharks with his performances as captain for Paarl Boys High and his three seasons in Durban, which saw him capped as Junior Springbok, led to a move to the Top 14, and a first-hand experience of what it is like to be on the wrong end of Bordeaux firepower.
“When I was playing for Lyon, it was a tough result for us (losing 46-10)… so hopefully it's a different result this weekend.
“They’re always kind of in the top three in the Top 14, they're such a good club. They’re obviously respected in the Top 14 as well and in the Champions Cup, good supporters as well. Like they have a lot of supporters and they’re also passionate supporters that brings them alive, and they have the players that brings their supporters alive as well, so that’s good from their side.
“Obviously we will have a lot of confidence from last week and we'll bring it to the game. We're just trying to get through this week and trying to prep for the game so yeah, I'm very excited for the game.”
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