Nizaam Carr


Nizaam Carr is a South African rugby union footballer who plays either as a flanker or number 8. He plays for in Super Rugby. He is renowned for his athleticism and linking play.

Personal life

Carr grew up in Mitchell's Plain and attended West End Primary before his father moved to Rondebosch East, where he still lives with his family.
Carr is the first Muslim to be named in a Springboks squad and to play for his national team after his subsequent debut against Italy. He fasts during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, even while playing rugby. He runs a rugby academy at Islamia College in Lansdowne and hopes to inspire more young players from his community to achieve higher honours in rugby.

Career

Born in Cape Town, Carr attended Bishops and played in their First XV in 2008 and 2009.
Carr made his way through the junior ranks of, playing Craven Week in 2009 and then made it to the senior team in 2011 where he debuted against the. Impressive outings in a Province jersey somehow saw him called up to the Stormers Super Rugby squad for the 2012 season and he made a total of 7 appearances before a serious knee injury ended his year. However, he bounced back during 2013 and made 14 appearances for the Stormers and also helped Western Province reach the final of the Currie Cup.
Carr started the 2014 Super Rugby season on the bench, but an injury to Siya Kolisi led to him starting the final 11 matches of the Stormers' campaign in the number 6 jersey. He returned to his preferred number 8 position during the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division, with his team ending the season as champions.
By captaining the Stormers in round 18 of the 2015 Super Rugby season, Carr became the first Muslim to have captained a Super Rugby team.
On 30 October 2017, Carr signed a 3-month deal to join English Premiership side Wasps. He rejoined the team on a full-time basis after the 2018 Super Rugby season.

International

Carr was a member of the South Africa Under 20 team that competed in the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship where he made a total of 4 appearances and scored 2 tries.
In October 2014, he was called up by the South Africa national rugby union team for their 2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals. On 22 November, he made his Springbok test debut against the Italy national team.
In 2016, Carr was included in a South Africa 'A' squad that played a two-match series against a touring England Saxons team. He was named in the starting line-up for their first match in Bloemfontein, but ended on the losing side as the visitors ran out 32–24 winners. He was named on the bench for the second match of the series, coming on as a first-half replacement in a 26–29 defeat to the Saxons in George.
He returned to Super Rugby when he signed for at the conclusion of his contract with Wasps.

Springbok statistics

Test match record

Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Con = Conversions, Pen = Penalties, DG = Drop Goals, Pts = Points Scored

Super Rugby statistics