Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'We gonna': Stormers were 'cursed' by Joseph Dweba's remarks in viral video

Stormer's prop Steven Kitshoff (C) looks at Munster's prop Stephen Archer (R) during the United Rugby Championship final match between the Stormers and Munster at the Cape Town stadium in Cape Town on May 27, 2023. (Photo by Rodger Bosch / AFP)

In the aftermath of Leinster’s semi-final defeat to Munster a fortnight ago the Stormers were seen wildly celebrating inside DHL Stadium in Cape Town.

ADVERTISEMENT

The defending champions had secured an unlikely home final with Leinster knocked out of the competition, which was rightly a cause for celebration.

However, hooker Joseph Dweba let the euphoria get the best of him proclaiming that the Stormers would ‘f*** them up’ in the final.

The video has now come back to bite after Munster’s 19-14 upset win to claim the URC title in front of 55,000 in Cape Town.

Munster fans haven’t forgotten Dweba’s remarks and were swarming across Twitter in the aftermath of the championship.

Some are even calling it ‘the curse of Joseph Dweba’ which cost the Stormers back-to-back titles along with a ‘cabbage patch’ of a playing pitch.

Munster’s South African lock and former Stormers player Jean Kleyn downplayed the severity of the video impacting Munster’s motivation.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I didn’t actually see the video myself – I don’t really tend to go looking for those kinds of things if it didn’t come across my path. I heard a lot about it, though,” Kleyn said during the week.

“So, I’ve heard a lot of talk about the video, but to be honest, I think it’s all a lot of puff. For any team, getting a home final after thinking they’d be playing Leinster away, I think Munster at home seems pretty good.”

The Stormers apologised to their hooker for the leaked video and backed their man to have a big performance in the final.

Perhaps Dweba did curse the final with moments of luck not falling in the Stormers’ favour after an early lead.

ADVERTISEMENT

Flyhalf Mannie Libbok was seen showboating on the way to the try line just five minutes in, pointing to Munster players as he candidly jogged over the line.

However, Libbok’s luck turned as the pitch conspired against him later in the first half.

A wicked bounce caused Libbok to fall while wing Calvin Nash ended up having a sitter catch to score a try.

Libbok would later be charged down late in the game which handed Munster the possession from which they scored the game-winning try.

Holding a 14-12 lead over Munster, No 8 Evan Roos burst through the line with a two-on-one opportunity building but he slipped over untouched whilst trying to change angle.

The Stormers had one final shot with a driving maul from around 22 metres out to make something happen but Munster’s pack disarmed it and won a collapsed maul turnover.

ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

2 Comments
Load More Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

S
SK 44 minutes ago
How Ireland can upset the odds in Paris: Big match preview part two

Ireland need to keep the ball for long periods even if it goes against their current Leinster identity. This is their bread and butter against France. If they can stress test the French defence for long periods of time they will tire out. Ireland cannot afford to just build 90 rucks in a game. They need to build well in excess of 100 and they need to get 55-60% lightning quick ball at least. They need to force France to make at least 150-200 tackles and force them to defend multiple phases of attack. They need to play quickly at lineout, get the ball away from the base at scrum time and keep the French forwards under the pump. They cant play from everywhere but once it gets to their own 10 metre line they need to keep the ball and avoid the kick unless its to expose space with a kick chase or a 50-22. I dont rate the French bench, hell the Ireland bench doesnt look so great itself but if they can survive the first 60, deny France set piece and aerial dominance and move their forwards around they can win this. For France they need to establish dominance at set piece, make a mess of the Irish lineout, dominate the air waves and score off turnover ball using fast breaking backs like LBB and Ramos. They need to put Prendergast under pressure and smash the Irish front row. If they can make a mess of the Irish ruck speed they will also win but what we cant have is both teams pussyfooting around in a cagey affair putting the ball up constantly in a snooze fest with Ireland playing some Leinster garbage and France doing what they are comfortable doing. That only ends one way, a France win and Thursday night wasted for a rugby hungry audience. If we want a game on Ice we will watch the Winter Olympics thank you very much.

78 Go to comments
Close
ADVERTISEMENT