Joseph Dweba
Date of birth (1995-10-25) 25 October 1995 (age 28)
Place of birthCarletonville, South Africa
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Weight112 kg (17 st 9 lb; 247 lb)
School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Current team Stormers / Western Province
Youth career
2011–2013 Golden Lions
2014–2016 Free State Cheetahs
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015 Bloemfontein Crusaders 1 (0)
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–2018 Free State XV 26 (50)
2016–2020 Cheetahs 28 (55)
2016–2020 Free State Cheetahs 20 (45)
2020–2022 Bordeaux 30 (25)
2022– Stormers 12 (15)
2023– Western Province ()
Correct as of 11 July 2022
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013 South Africa Schools 3 (0)
2014–2015 South Africa Under-20 6 (0)
2021– South Africa 6 (0)
Correct as of 6 August 2023

Joseph Dweba (born 25 October 1995) is a South African professional rugby union player for Stormers in the United Rugby Championship competition. He previously played for Cheetahs in the Pro14 and the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup.[2] His regular position is hooker.

Club career

Golden Lions / South African Schools

His first provincial representation came in 2011, when he was selected for the Golden Lions Under-16 side that played at the Grant Khomo Week competition.

He also represented the Golden Lions two years later, this time in the premier South African high school rugby union competition, the Under-18 Craven Week, held in Polokwane. He appeared in all three of their matches, including the 29–45 defeat in the unofficial final against Western Province.[3] His performance led to his inclusion in the South African Schools side and he made appearances for them in wins against England,[4] France[5] and Wales[6] in August 2013.

Free State Cheetahs / South Africa Under-20

For the 2014 season, Dweba made the move to Bloemfontein to join the Free State Cheetahs. He remained in the thoughts of the national selectors and was called up into the South Africa Under-20 squad for the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship held in New Zealand in June 2014. He came on as a replacement in their second Pool C match against hosts New Zealand, helping them to a 33–24 victory.[7] He was an unused replacement for final pool match against Samoa[8] and in their 32–25 semi-final win against New Zealand.[9] He played off the bench in the final against England, coming on just after half time, but could not prevent South Africa losing the match 20–21 to finish as runners-up in the competition.[10] He returned to domestic action in the latter half of 2014, making two appearances for the Free State U19 side in the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship.

After playing a single match for club side Bloemfontein Crusaders in the 2015 SARU Community Cup, Dweba was included in the Free State XV that competed in the 2015 Vodacom Cup. He made his provincial first class debut by starting their opening match of the season against SWD Eagles, but ended on the losing side as SWD ran out 17–33 winners.[11] He made a further three appearances off the bench as the Free State XV finished the group stage in third place in the Southern Section before losing 21–44 to the Blue Bulls in the quarter finals.[12]

He was included in a 37-man training squad for the South African Under-20 team[13] and started a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team in April 2015.[14] He was included in the squad that toured Argentina in May 2015;[15] he started their first match, a 25–22 win for South Africa,[16] and came on as a replacement in their second match, scoring a try five minutes from time in a 39–28 victory.[17]

Upon the team's return, he was named in the final squad for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.[18] He was an unused replacement in their first match of the competition, a 33–5 win against hosts Italy,[19] but started their remaining two matches in Pool B; a 40–8 win against Samoa[20] and a 46–13 win over Australia[21] to help South Africa finish top of Pool B to qualify for the semi-finals with the best record pool stage of all the teams in the competition. Dweba started their semi-final match against England, but could not prevent them losing 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession[22] and played off the bench in their third-place play-off match against France, helping South Africa to a 31–18 win to secure third place in the competition.[23]

Union Bordeaux Bègles

In 2020 he joined Bordeaux, in the Top 14 competition from the 2020-21 season.[24][25]

International career

In June 2021, Dweba was called up by the national team for the first time being included in a 46-man Springbok Squad to do duty against the British and Irish Lions. He made his test debut for Springboks against Argentina on 14 August 2021 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.[26]

References

  1. ^ "Joseph Dweba". The Stormers. 2 February 2023. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  2. ^ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Joseph Dweba". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  3. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Western Province 45–29 Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 13 July 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  4. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa 19–14 England". South African Rugby Union. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  5. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa 17–13 France". South African Rugby Union. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  6. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa 14–13 Wales". South African Rugby Union. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  7. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – New Zealand 24–33 South Africa". South African Rugby Union. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  8. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Samoa 8–21 South Africa". South African Rugby Union. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  9. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa 32–25 New Zealand". South African Rugby Union. 15 June 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  10. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – England 21–20 South Africa". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  11. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – SWD Eagles 33–17 Toyota Free State XV". South African Rugby Union. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  12. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Blue Bulls 44–21 Toyota Free State XV". South African Rugby Union. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  13. ^ "Junior Bok training squad confirmed". South African Rugby Union. 4 April 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  14. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Varsity Cup XV 24–31 South Africa U/20". South African Rugby Union. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  15. ^ "SARU names Junior Bok squad for Argentine tour". South African Rugby Union. 29 April 2015. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  16. ^ "Los Pumitas cayeron ante Baby Boks por 25 a 22". Unión Argentina de Rugby (in Spanish). 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  17. ^ "Los Pumitas cayeron ante Baby Boks por 39 a 28". Unión Argentina de Rugby (in Spanish). 16 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Liebenberg to lead Junior Boks at U20 World Championship in Italy". South African Rugby Union. 20 May 2015. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  19. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Italy U20 5–33 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  20. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 40–8 Samoa U20". South African Rugby Union. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  21. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 46–13 Australia U20". South African Rugby Union. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  22. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 20–28 England U20". South African Rugby Union. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  23. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – France U20 18–31 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  24. ^ "Dweba's move to France confirmed". www.sarugbymag.co.za. 12 May 2020.
  25. ^ "Dweba: He would have been Cheetahs' second highest paid player". rugby365.com. 19 May 2020.
  26. ^ Schenk, Heinz. "Joseph Dweba's first Springbok start is another triumph of inclusivity". Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2021.

External links

Stormers – current squad
Western Province – current squad
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