Stormers hooker Dweba ‘can back up his words’, says coach Hlungwani

Joseph Dweba is expected to be a wanted man when his team takes on Munster in the United Rugby Championship (URC) final at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday evening, after the Stormers hooker’s expletive laden celebrations just over a week ago.

In a video that circulated on social media soon after Munster’s massive semi-final win over Leinster, Dweba was seen celebrating in a suite at Cape Town Stadium along with his Stormers teammates, shouting: “We’re gonna f*** them up!” – in probable reference to Munster who now have to travel back to SA for the final.

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He is thus likely a marked man on Munster’s radar and the Irish visitors will be eager to make a big statement when they meet this weekend.

Stormers assistant coach Rito Hlungwani was asked during a press conference on Monday afternoon by an Irish journalist if management had spoken to Dweba about the comments and if he had been warned about his future conduct.

However, Hlungwani suggested it wasn’t a big deal, and he believed Dweba was the type of player who could back up what he said.

‘Emotional player’

“Joseph is a very emotional player. He has a bit of a mouth on him but he is one guy who usually backs up his words,” said Hlungwani.

“In saying that, what was said wasn’t something that was meant to go out to the public, so it’s not necessarily his fault, but if there is one guy that I would back to back up his own words, it’s Joseph. So it’s not something that we really had a long chat about.

“At the end of the day we respect Munster. They are the only team that we haven’t beaten in the URC. They are coming here with a strong team so they are a team we respect highly.”

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The Stormers have played Munster twice in the URC over the past two seasons, losing 34-18 in Ireland on their first away tour in the competition back in October 2021, while they were beaten 26-24 at home last month.

Dweba’s comments are thus fighting words and the Stormers have a lot of work to do to back them up in this weekend’s final.