Nifty Nizaam has proved he can cope in land of giants
NIZAAM Carr has ordered Wasps to strike fear into the hearts of their opponents as Dai Young’s side train their sights on a first Premiership title since 2008.
South African No.8 Carr enjoyed an impressive sixmonth spell with Wasps last season before returning for a Super Rugby campaign at the Stormers.
The 27-year-old failed in his quest to win the Southern Hemisphere championship but insists Wasps have the ability to help him achieve his dream.
“Stormers had been to the play-offs but never won Super Rugby and last season was the one where I really wanted to win it,” Carr said.
“It was emotional not to do it but I’m so hungry to win some silverware and I’m not just at Wasps to win caps for them now, I’m here to win big trophies.
“A lot of the time people talk about Saracens and Exeter being the teams to fear, but my dream for Wasps is that teams must fear playing us from now onwards, not just attacking-wise but defensively as well and we must look to put teams to bed.
“We should be the new team to fear – a team that not only makes the top four but goes all the way through to Twickenham and wins the final there.”
Carr’s first Wasps stint saw the popular ex-Springbok act as an effective link-man between forwards and backs, with his footwork and subtle offloading skills offering a point of difference to the brutal physicality of England No.8 Nathan Hughes.
Carr, who hopes for a Test recall, explained: “When I first came to Wasps last season I had some question marks against me over whether I could cope in the Northern Hemisphere, specifically in wet weather, and at the beginning I doubted myself.
“But as I played I got more confident and adapted, and proved to myself that I could come here and really perform.
“I’m a lot smaller than the rest of the No.8s so I needed to bring something special to the party in terms of the lineout, tackling, footwork and offloading. I managed to do that and had a lot of fun, so that made my decision to re-sign much easier.”
With ace playmaker Danny Cipriani moving on, Carr is confident his replacement Lima Sopoaga will step up to the plate, adding: “Danny and I connected really well and he helped my game a lot, but Lima Sopoaga’s a pretty special player as well.
“I’ve played against him a few times when he was at the Highlanders and he’s very good around the gainline and leads a team really well.”
Carr hopes to add to his five South African caps. He said: “I’ve spoken to (head coach) Rassie Erasmus and he’ll be watching all the players in England. Nobody ever gives up on playing for their country.”