John Dobson excited by the potential of Joseph Dweba: ‘He can be cult hero’

 Stormers coach John Dobson is extremely excited by the potential shown by new hooker Joseph Dweba and believes the player can gain “cult hero” status over the next three years with the Cape Town based team.

Bok Dweba, who joined the team from Bordeaux in the off season, is in line to make his first United Rugby Championship (URC) appearance for the Stormers against Edinburgh on Saturday and he will be hoping to make a big impact.

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Dweba did not have the best of international seasons for the Boks, coming under fire after underwhelming performances against the All Blacks and Wallabies, but Dobson believes he can become a star as long as he is backed.

“He needs a bit of squeezing and a bit of love. He needs us to back him and just needs to play,” said Dobson.

“I understand that at Test-match level your margin is smaller in terms of time and you have to make instant changes. But we have a long journey to walk with Joseph over the next three years.”

Lineout struggles

Where Dweba seemed to battle the most with the Boks was with his lineout throwing, which he struggled with in the games he played, however that is a non-issue for Dobson, while he is thrilled with his scrumming and ball carrying ability.

 “He certainly can throw. But what blew me away was his scrumming. I didn’t know that, I must say. Andre-Hugo (Venter) came out of one scrum and it looked like his eyes were cross-eyed,” claimed Dobson.

“He has an amazingly powerful hit. And when you throw in our props that’s very exciting for me. Another thing of course is his carrying. He is a really good ball carrier.”

Dobson however doesn’t believe that Dweba will light the house on fire right off the bat, and thinks he will get better in time as he settles into the Stormers system.

“I don’t expect Joseph to dominate the world as early as Saturday. He has a bit of diesel in him. He has to play quite a bit and feel the support in the environment he has here,” explained Dobson.

“He will get better and better. This is somebody who can be a cult hero at this stadium. That journey starts this week. We won’t see the finished product this weekend but that scrumming was very mean.”