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'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.

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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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2 Comments
b
bob 583 days ago

Sadly for Dweba his performance on the field was poor.

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JW 3 hours ago
The Fergus Burke test and rugby's free market

Of course not, but were not going to base our reasoning on what is said in one comment in a particular scenario and time, are we?


Actually, you are? Seriously?

Although Burke readily admits “I am driven by international rugby”, his final destination is still unknown. He could be one day replacing Finn Russell in the navy blue of Scotland, or challenging Marcus Smith for the right to wear a red rose on his chest, or cycling all the way home to the silver fern. It is all ‘Professor Plum in the billiards room with the lead pipe’ type guesswork, as things stand.

You yourself suggested it? Just theoretically? Look I hope Burke does well, but he's not really a player that has got a lot of attention, you've probably read/heard more him in this last few months than we have in his 4 years. Your own comments also suggest going overseas is a good idea to push ones case for national selection, especially for a team like NZ being so isolated. So i'll ask again, as no of your quotes obviously say one thing or the other, why don't you think he might be trying to advance his case like Leicester did?


Also, you can look at Leicesters statements in a similar fashion, where no doubt you are referring to his comments made while in NZ (still playing a big part of the WC campaign in his case). You should be no means have taken them for granted, and I'd suggest any other coach or management and he might not have returned (been wanted back).

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