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

By Kim Ekin
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.

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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.

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“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.

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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.

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