Neil Powell has been amazed by the rapid progress of Tim Agaba, who has been added to the squad ahead of this weekend's Sydney Sevens.

Agaba received a call-up to replace the injured Justin Geduld, with the Blitzboks already missing Kyle Brown, Werner Kok, Cecil Afrika and Rayno Benjamin.

'Tim is a promisig player, which he showed during the Currie Cup last season,' Powell told MyPlayers.co.za. 'He’s done well with the Academy side, touring places like Chile and Dubai. This is amazing considering he’s just entered the sevens system a month or two ago.'

Agaba impressed for the EP Kings last year, but has now committed to the sevens set-up and is in line to make his debut appearance in the World Rugby Sevens Series this weekend.

'I’m happy to call on Tim. Yes, he’s inexperienced at World Series level, but the only way he’ll get experience is if you play him,' Powell said. 'Academy tournaments are good for development, but they’ll only get you so far. He’ll benefit from the experience at this level. There were many times when I was a player and I got an opportunity because of an injury. That’s rugby for you. Tim has plenty of character and I’m sure he’ll grab this opportunity with both hands.'

Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix