Agaba wants to be wide awake at Loftus
PRETORIA: The Bulls will be looking to stem the tide of their four-match losing streak Down Under when they face the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld, according to hard man Tim Agaba.
Agaba, who made his starting Super Rugby debut for the Bulls in last weekend’s loss against the Crusaders, will be playing in his first northsouth derby but says his focus is purely on his contribution in ensuring that the Bulls break their four match losing run and fix the errors that have dogged their game in recent weeks.
“It doesn’t get bigger than this. It is the big South African derby here at Loftus and a nice one to be part of for me and I’m looking forward to it,” said Agaba.
“What is important to us is that we don’t go to sleep. We got to fix what we can and take it into this game. We’ll never go into a game planning on losing but it is a big one for us.”
The enormity of Saturday’s occasion goes beyond the history behind this derby and the Bulls will look to rectify their defensive frailties, especially the ones that saw them handover dominance in the games against the Reds and Chiefs.
At the same time, the Bulls inability to replicate their second-half performances with the same intent on attack and defence as in the first half also came back to haunt them against the Crusaders including their confusion when it comes to stopping the rolling maul.
As confrontational as Agaba is on the field of play, the Mthatha-born No 8fronts up to the aspects of the game that have let his team down up to now and says they have no choice but to eradicate them by the weekend. “I felt in the first half we didn’t do too badly and in the second half we went to sleep against the Chiefs. The Crusaders kept the game up top there and we didn’t play with them. There are certain areas we need to improve on big time. And there are certain areas if we don’t improve on throughout this tournament they are going to cost us big time. We will look at ourselves closely this week and rectify the wrongs of the tour,” Agaba added.
A Springbok Sevens star who has played played a pivotal role in the successes of the national team in achieving a bronze medal at the Rio Olympic Games and winning the World Series last season, Agaba is relishing the personal contest he will have against Springboks and Stormers loose forwards Nizaam Carr and Siya Kolisi on Saturday.
“That’s the reason why I’m playing Super Rugby in the first place so I can play against the best in the world to see exactly where I am and where I fit in. Guys like Nizaam and Siya are fantastic players and I have a lot of respect for them but we are all rugby players and hopefully we can get on top of them this weekend,” Agaba said.