When Joseph Dweba first arrived at the DHL Stormers his new coach John Dobson told the media he would be a cult hero at the team’s home ground of DHL Stadium within a year, but it is happening quicker than that.
You don’t play for the Stormers and bump off Vodacom Bulls players like Dweba did in the recent Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby at Loftus and not quickly find a place in the hearts of Cape fans. A strong scrummaging hooker, Dweba has been influential in the dominant Stormers performances in that phase, and he has also of course featured strongly as a support player and with ball in hand. With his chunky 108 kilograms spread over a height of just 1.72 metres, he is hard to stop when running at full tilt.
REQUIRED SOME LOVE
However, when he arrived in Cape Town Dobson said he would require some love, and there was a good reason for that. Dweba had just added to the two Springbok caps he won in 2021 - his debut was against Argentina in Gqeberha - with a few appearances in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship that had attracted much negative attention for his throwing misses in the lineouts.
He must be highly rated by Bok coach Jacques Nienaber for he started in place of Malcolm Marx in the crucial return game against the All Blacks in Johannesburg. Unfortunately the pressure appeared to get to him, for the Kiwis got a foothold in that game by being able to dominate the early lineouts. You could almost sense the massive pressure Dweba was under every time he threw the ball in. That was understandable because Marx had been the man of the match in the previous game against the All Blacks in Nelspruit, where the Boks had won comfortably. There was a lot of scrutiny, and he’d have known it.
BEING ALLOWED TO BE YOURSELF
There have been a few hiccups here and there, but generally the 27-year-old, who was born in Carletonville in South Africa’s first World Cup winning year of 1995, has done well at lineout time since being with the Stormers. And like with some of the other players recruited by the Stormers who have thrived under Dobson’s coaching, such as Manie Libbok, the culture of allowing players to be who they are has played a big role.
According to Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani, the message that was put across to Dweba that it didn’t matter what it looked like, what mattered was that his throwing hit target.
“We haven’t changed our system at all to accommodate Joseph,” said Hlungwani.
“We recruited him on the basis that we knew his capabilities, and having watched him play for the Cheetahs, we were comfortable that he could throw. The big challenge though is, and I don’t think many people know this, Joseph has an unorthodox throwing technique. Maybe in France and some of the other places that Joseph has played, they have tried to change that. And that may have caused problems. I told him from the outset that I want him to throw the way he wants to throw. As long as the ball is straight and gets into the hands of the jumpers, that is all I care about.
“I think he has found himself with us. He does throw slightly differently but we back his technique as it gives us the balls we want. He is now comfortable because we embrace it. I think at the Stormers we do well with dealing with people who do things differently and have different techniques. We back Joseph to be himself and allow him to be himself.”
BEING ALLOWED TO DO WHAT IS COMFORTABLE WORKS
What Hlungwani says makes sense. Dweba played for South African Schools after excelling for the Golden Lions Schools team at the 2013 Craven Week in Polokwane, and clearly his throwing style must have worked for him then. So why change it? Sometimes unorthodox works and no-one would ever have suggested that a coach tamper with the perceived wrong-footed bowling style of the South African fast bowling allrounder of the 1960s to early 1980s, Mike Procter. It clearly worked for one of this country's legendary cricketers.
Dweba agrees that being freed to back himself has helped him settle at the Stormers and it is the reason he is now coming into his own as a player.
“100 per cent, it has played a big role in making me feel comfortable. My throw is different to other hookers and looked at another way, theirs is different to mine,” said Dweba. “So when I arrived we just sat down and had a conversation and I was told ‘look just throw the way you throwing…as long as the ball gets there…’ So there has been no change, it is just about getting the ball to the locks.”
BACK IN THE FRAME AS A BOK OPTION
The backing that Dweba received from the coaches from day one in Cape Town has driven the form that is rapidly starting to put him back in the frame for a potential Springbok Rugby World Cup place.
“Having come here from France it was the coach backing me that made all the difference. As I say, we had a conversation. I was told that I must just go out and enjoy myself like I did at the Cheetahs. The message was that I must give my all, but at the same time I must just enjoy the moment.
“The Stormers are a Championship winning team but the guys are so humble and accommodating. There are no egos. I brought a few plans with me from France, around scrums and carrying the ball etc, and they were listened to and accepted. It was easy for me to fit in.”
According to Hlungwani, it couldn’t be any other way at the Stormers.
“When we sign a player here it means we back that player and believe in his abilities. The first thing we said to Joseph when he got here was that you have to have a strong heart. But numbers don’t lie. In the eyes of the spectators, one skew lineout or overthrow can take away the fact that you threw 42 previous lineouts and only missed two,” said the forwards coach.
“If I was a spectator I would look at the two misses perhaps but we feel Joseph has done well. He must just back himself. We are not concerned about one or two bad throws. The bigger picture is what counts.”
TEETHING PROBLEMS
There have been a few lineout malfunctions from the Stormers in some games, but Hlungwani ascribes that to the fact that when replacements come on the lineout leader changes.
“It is always tricky. In a perfect world you have one guy calling the lineouts in the first 60 minutes and then another in the last 20. In our case we had Marvin Orie or Gary Porter calling then Ben-Jason Dixon. BJ mainly plays blindside flank so there will be some teething challenges there. We are building up a good understanding of what we need to do well, but it takes time. It is quite challenging for the guy on the bench who has to get his men right and his plans together while the game is happening. It is not a big focus but we’ve had conversations about it.”
THRIVING ON THE WORK ETHIC
For Dweba’s part, he says the work ethic of some of the players around him has helped, as has the competition with the pool of good hookers, some of them really promising young, up and coming players like Andre-Hugo Venter and JJ Kotze.
“Being with a winning team helps a lot,” says Dweba. “We have guys who drive the team, Marvin Orie is excellent in that regard, and Gary Porter is good in doing the lineouts as the No 5 lock. Manie (Libbok), although he doesn’t play in the forwards, is always around being enthusiastic and helping. It is a good package. It feels like it is coming together. I wouldn’t say I am there yet, but I feel like I am getting there.”