Joseph Dweba (born 25 October 1995) is a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player for in the United Rugby Championship competition. He previously played for in the Pro14 and the in the Currie Cup. His regular position is hooker.

Club career

Golden Lions / South African Schools

His first provincial representation came in 2011, when he was selected for the Under-16 side that played at the Grant Khomo Week competition. He also represented the 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 . His performance led to his inclusion in the South African Schools side and he made appearances for them in wins against

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and Wales in August 2013.

Free State Cheetahs / South Africa Under-20

For the 2014 season, Dweba made the move to

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

to join the . 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

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in June 2014. He came on as a replacement in their second Pool C match against hosts

, helping them to a 33–24 victory. He was an unused replacement for final pool match against

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and in their 32–25 semi-final win against New Zealand. He played off the bench in the final against

, 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. He returned to domestic action in the latter half of 2014, making two appearances for the 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 that competed in the 2015 Vodacom Cup. He made his provincial first class debut by starting their opening match of the season against , but ended on the losing side as SWD ran out 17–33 winners. 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 in the quarter finals. He was included in a 37-man training squad for the South African Under-20 team and started a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team in April 2015. He was included in the squad that toured

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in May 2015; he started their first match, a 25–22 win for South Africa, and came on as a replacement in their second match, scoring a try five minutes from time in a 39–28 victory. Upon the team's return, he was named in the final squad for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship. He was an unused replacement in their first match of the competition, a 33–5 win against hosts

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, but started their remaining two matches in Pool B; a 40–8 win against

and a 46–13 win over

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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

, but could not prevent them losing 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession and played off the bench in their third-place play-off match against

, helping South Africa to a 31–18 win to secure third place in the competition.

Union Bordeaux Bègles

In 2020 he joined

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

competition from the 2020-21 season.

International career

In June 2021, Dweba was called up by the national team for the first time being included in a 46-man Springbok Squad to do duty against the British and Irish Lions. He made his test debut for

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

against on 14 August 2021 at the

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a association football, soccer and rugby union stadium in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It hosted 2010 FIFA World Cup matches, including the third-place play off. It is the home of Chip ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dweba, Joseph 1995 births Living people Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Carletonville South Africa international rugby union players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players South African rugby union players Union Bordeaux Bègles players Stormers players Western Province (rugby union) players South African expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century South African sportsmen