Carr enjoys running with big dogs

Nizaam Carr during the Springbok training session at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff, Wales. Photo: Steve Haag

Nizaam Carr during the Springbok training session at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff, Wales. Photo: Steve Haag

Published Nov 28, 2014

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Cardiff - When Nizaam Carr starts speaking during our interview, he looks at a wall inside the Springbok team hotel and seldom changes his line of sight.

He has the same determined look that he possesses on a rugby field when he puts his well-toned 1.84m and 103kg frame through the ringer of high-intensity action.

It has been that relentless style of play that has seen Carr enjoy a breakthrough season in 2014. He started the year on the Stormers’ bench, but last Saturday earned his first Test cap for the Springboks in the 22-6 win over Italy in Padova.

He faces an enormous challenge to make the Bok World Cup squad next year, though, as there is likely to be just five spots for loose forwards in the final group of 31.

But he doesn’t let such a scenario affect his mood. Bok coach Heyneke Meyer said last week that he sees Carr as an openside flank in future, even though the 23-year-old has starred as a No 8 for Western Province.

Carr, though, is not getting anxious about a possible shift back to openside flank, and is up for the challenge of pushing for a permanent Bok berth.

“There is a lot of competition among the loose forwards, so I know it’s not going to be easy as these guys have probably cemented their place. Oupa is a great player and great ball-carrier, as well as Marcell Coetzee, who is good over the ball and has a high tackle-count - he is always winning awards for a high work-rate,” Carr told the Cape Times ahead of Saturday’s Test against Wales at the Millennium Stadium, where he will hope to earn his second cap off the bench.

“Even Duane, that’s enough said about Duane. So it’s going to be hard for me, but there are opportunities and you wouldn’t want anybody to get injured, but that does happen too. I would like to cement my place in the Bok team, like I’ve done in the Western Province and Stormers teams. Whether it’s at six or eight - I do prefer No 8 but I also enjoy No 6.

“Right now, I can’t say which position I would want to settle down in, as I wouldn’t say to Heyneke that I don’t want to play in a certain position. I need to first establish myself.”

Carr spoke in the immediate aftermath of his Test debut about how it was a “dream come true”, and a week later, he is still battling with the concept of being called a Springbok.

But while it was an overwhelming moment last Saturday, he knows he cannot be caught up in the emotions of that day if he wants to continue earning a place in the side.

“Even up to today, I’m still like … it’s almost like a dream. But like I said to my boys, I’m living it, it’s reality now. So, I’ve got to embrace it and take it in before it is too late. Because you don’t want to be in a daze or things like that. You’ve got to embrace it,” he said.

“Obviously I don’t believe that it’s really happening now because your whole life, you want to work for this opportunity to wear the green-and-gold jersey. So, it is here and I am really enjoying every single second of it. And just to think ‘I am a Springbok’ - I can’t wrap my head around that.

“It’s too much, I just can’t believe it. I look at players, even from Western Province like Nic Groom, someone like Marcel Brache, who left for the Force. Kurt Coleman, Juan de Jongh would like to represent this jersey, and then I sort of get the feeling that ‘This is big’, because there are a million kids who want to be here.

“And I just signed an autograph now, where this guy was actually coming to me. I don’t expect people to come to me, I expect them to go to the big names like Jean de Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis, even Jannie - all the big guys.

“But he came up to me and he had four pictures of me - wearing a Springbok jersey and a Stormers jersey - and that was really special for me. That I’m not this junior anymore in the set-up. I can start to give myself, not be arrogant, but to realise that ‘Nizaam, hey, you are there up with the big guys and big dogs’.

“But it’s a lot of emotions also. It’s hectic, man.”

What would have made it even more “hectic” was the fact that Carr became the first Muslim player to become a Springbok since the unification of South African rugby in 1992, which is a significant milestone considering the rich history of rugby in the Muslim community, particularly in the Cape.

While Carr acknowledges the importance of his achievement, he doesn’t want to let the moment become too big for him to handle.

“I think it’s really massive. There are a lot of people whose hearts I have won over and who are backing me a lot. So obviously I have a huge responsibility. But in saying that, there were a lot of people who tried playing for the Springboks, and I believe they did have the attributes and all the qualities of becoming a Springbok,” he said.

“But I understand what South Africa went through back then. I think a lot of them could’ve played for the Springboks, but we know what happened. So I represent all of them who couldn’t play for the Springboks, and I have this opportunity. Just to say that is really special, and I won’t take it for granted because there are a lot of people backing me, so I can’t disappoint them.

“But I’m not putting too much pressure on myself. Yes, I am the first Muslim and I am making history, but that’s that - it’s over now, I’m playing my second Test on Saturday.

“Islam is my religion and that’s what I believe in off the field, but in saying that, rugby is a sport and it’s a team game - we all speak the same language. I am a Muslim, but it’s rugby at the end of the day and that is what I play and what people come to watch.”

Carr sports an impressive beard, although he does trim it regularly, which has seen some refer to him as the “Hashim Amla of rugby”. That is a generous compliment considering Amla’s exalted status in the cricket world, but the former Bishops schoolboy rather sees the comparison as an inspirational tool.

“It’s kind of cool that they see me in the same light as Hashim Amla. But if people say that, I’m not going to walk around with a big head, thinking that I am this superstar like Hashim Amla. For me, it’s more about being a role model to the younger kids, that it is possible to do it even with a beard, or without a beard or whatever style you want,” said Carr.

Carr may not have taken up rugby as a sport if it hadn’t been for his school sports coach, Edward Rabie, at West End Primary School in Lentegeur in Mitchells Plain. The young boy loved his soccer and “had no idea what rugby even was. I just knew that it was for big, physical men and running”.

But after Rabie had introduced him to the game, he quickly got hooked and made the Western Province Under-13 side, which eventually led to Bishops offering him a bursary in Grade 10 while he was attending Alexander Sinton High School in Belgravia, Athlone.

Now he gets to play alongside his rugby heroes such as Schalk Burger and Duane Vermeulen.

“I always wanted to play like Schalk, even though our styles of play are not the same. He was physical, dominant and fearless, all over the pitch, touched the ball 20 times in the first 10 minutes. I think that’s the role I want to play, just being involved all the time. So playing with my hero was something special this year,” Carr said.

“And then also Duane Vermeulen, who is one of the players I have the most respect for. He is always there when you need him, I can always go to him and he will never turn you away. He is the type of guy who will rather let you go ahead and he will step back.

“It’s like I might go further in life, but he will smile because he will know it’s because of what he did. He is that type of guy, selfless. He is a very open and giving kind of guy.

“In my personal life, definitely my parents - Faizel and Afia - for what they’ve sacrificed and gone through with me. There were some tough times as a youngster and naughty times too! They’ve had the biggest influence on my career - taking me to practices and games, waking me up on time and washing my rugby kit.

“If it wasn’t for them, I would not be sitting here today. I learnt a lot of my morals and values from them and that helped me throughout my career.”

But the big moment arrived about 58 minutes into the Italy Test. Carr said earlier this week that he felt he may not get on to the field as the match was a close affair, with the Boks leading by just two points at 8-6. But then with his first touch of the ball, he broke the line and offloaded superbly to Cobus Reinach to score under the posts.

But the man that Carr had beaten was none other than the iconic Italy captain and No 8, Sergio Parisse.

“Things happened so fast that I didn’t know about it. But then I got sent a picture and then I saw Parisse lying on the floor. I thought that was special, but I want to just keep working hard. Obviously there is a lot of room for improvement, as I will never say that I am the complete rugby loose forward,” he said.

“But I will always strive to be (a player in the mould of) Sergio Parisse, because I think on the day, he had an unbelievable game. He was all over the field, doing his magic - his passes, his tackling, cross-cover tackles, whatever. If there is another player I would look up to, it would be Sergio Parisse.

“Seeing that picture, with him lying on the floor and me still having the ball in hand, is one I’m obviously going to frame, with my debut jersey.”

Carr said that Bok coach Heyneke Meyer does encourage him to play his natural game, but he knows it’s going to be an even more intense battle on Saturday against Wales, who will be desperate to finally beat a southern-hemisphere team after narrow defeats to Australia and New Zealand in the last few weeks.

“What Heyneke made clear to me is that I must just do what brought me here. He didn’t ask me to do anything that I’m not comfortable with or whatever. So that kind of clarity really helped me, as he even said ‘Nemo, you run nice lines’ and that there is not a lot of space in Test rugby.

“But in my first touch, I was running into space, and that is actually what he wanted from me. So, that was great, and I think Heyneke is really passionate about of the game. There is a lot of clarity and detail, and he’s very hard on that. I think Heyneke is probably

going to go down as one of the best coaches that I’ve worked with.

“Wales are going to be passionate as they lost by one point to us in Nelspruit and narrowly to the All Blacks last week. They are very physical and have home advantage, so it will be tough. They have good stealers like (captain Sam) Warburton, so they are good on the ground. I rate him as the best breakdown specialist, so that will be a tough area to compete in.

“Then in the lineouts, they are very physical in the maul, so that will be another challenge. I really think this game is going to be won in the forwards. If we really scrum well, and maul correctly, then Wales will be in for a tough one. We want to start well and not be too fancy, exit well.”

Cape Times

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