Joseph Dweba to dominate on Springboks Test debut

Springboks hooker Joseph Dweba is a monster of a man and he will be right at home against the physical force of the Pumas, writes Oliver Keohane.

Dweba, simply put, is an imposing presence, and I was surprised and disappointed to find out that he weighs 108 kilograms, and not 120.

With the physical credentials all in place for a typical South African hooker, Dweba was handed a big role in essentially acting as a like for like replacement for Bongi Mbonambi when the Springboks, under the guise of SA ‘A’, faced the British & Irish Lions in a one-off match before the test series began.

Covid disruptions had forced South Africa into a position where they had only faced Georgia once, after a year and half of no international rugby, and while the SA ‘A’ game was intended to blood the youth within the Springbok squad, the management was forced instead into picking basically a full strength Springbok side.

Dweba started the game as the only player yet to have played Test rugby (in the starting XV), among a starting lineup that boasted eight players from the World Cup winning run-on XV of 2019. In an industrious 38-minute shift, Dweba came through on the backing from Bok coach Jacques Nienaber and he was ever-present on defence and at ruck time, and powerful in driving through contact in his carries.

Dweba was on the receiving end of a few penalties towards the end of the half, albeit for an evident over-eagerness to assert his presence, rather than any stupid or malicious behaviour, and were it not for his potential risk to concede a yellow card he may have had a few more minutes on the park. SA ‘A’ aka the Springboks, went on to win 17-13.

The star quality of Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx as the world’s best hooker axis makes it understandable that Dweba did not get a look in over the Test series, and his absence by no means indicates a lack of appreciation for his talents.

While Jacques Nienaber has had to rest many players who carried a heavy workload during the Test series, the coach has once again shown a trust in Dweba’s abilities on the big stage by starting him against an Argentinian pack that has consistently proved one of the toughest in the world to face, and last year laid the platform for a Pumas win over the All Blacks in their first match back post-Covid.

This year these Pumas, around the same time of the British & Irish Lions tour, drew 20-20 with Wales in a match where they spent 60 minutes with 14 men, and followed up a week later by beating the Welsh 33-11 with their full run-on XV restored.

Since returning to rugby mid-2020, the Argentinians in their last eight tests have beaten the All Blacks once and lost to them once, drawn to Australia twice, beaten the USA, Romania and Wales and drawn once to Wales in a game where they were minus-one player for an hour. This Argentinian game will not be an easy one for the Springboks.

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While a new-look backline has been selected for the Springboks’ opening Rugby Championship game, some big and experienced names like Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Lood De Jager have all been retained to front the physical challenge that awaits, and Nienaber’s backing of Dweba to deliver the goods as a starting member is testament to his talent as a player.

While Dweba’s first taste of Test-type rugby couldn’t get any bigger than a game against Britain’s best, his actual Test debut can’t get much bigger than Argentina in the context of his position. While the Pumas have become a much more well-rounded rugby force in recent years, the historical consistent has always been the size of their forwards and the strength of their scrum, which will be Dweba’s direct challenge on debut .

In 2020, Dweba opened up to SA Rugby Magazine about his terrible experience at youth level in South Africa and domestically at the Cheetahs, which prompted his move to Bordeaux. However, while detailing his turbulent time locally, Dweba still  expressed a desire to prove everyone wrong through his performances abroad.

‘Jacques Nienaber, the new coach, said I am in their plans and that moving to France won’t disadvantage me. If I stayed in South Africa, it is much easier for them to call me up, but if I’m shooting the lights out in the Top 14, I’m definitely going to be chosen.’

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Dweba’s selection for Saturday is a big statement a year down the line from his conversation with SA Rugby Magazine, and it is special in the context of how far he has come to brush aside all  South African hooker competition besides Mbonambi and Marx. It will be surprising if he does not add further impact to this statement in his Test debut.

 

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