Joseph Dweba

Joseph Dweba (born (1995-10-25)25 October 1995 in Carletonville, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Free State Cheetahs.^[1] His regular position is hooker.

Career

Golden Lions / South African Schools

His first provincial representation came during 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.^[2] His performance led to his inclusion in the South African Schools side and he made appearances for them in wins against England,^[3] France^[4] and Wales^[5] 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.^[6] He was an unused replacement for final pool match against Samoa^[7] and in their 32–25 semi-final win against New Zealand.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10] 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.^[11]

He was included in a 37-man training squad for the South African Under-20 team^[12] and started a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team in April 2015.^[13] He was included in the squad that toured Argentina in May 2015;^[14] he started their first match, a 25–22 win for South Africa,^[15] and came on as a replacement in their second match, scoring a try five minutes from time in a 39–28 victory.^[16]

Upon the team's return, he was named in the final squad for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.^[17] He was an unused replacement in their first match of the competition, a 33–5 win against hosts Italy,^[18] but started their remaining two matches in Pool B; a 40–8 win against Samoa^[19] and a 46–13 win over Australia^[20] 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^[21] 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.^[22]

References