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Joseph Dweba (Gallo) |
Lloyd Burnard – Sport24
Cheetahs CEO Harold Verster says
he was “shocked” when he read hooker Joseph Dweba’s scathing
comments about the union in the media.
Dweba, who has been at the
Cheetahs since 2015 but last week signed a deal that will see him join
Bordeaux-Begles in France, made headlines in South Africa on Tuesday when, in
an interview with the Rugby Pass website,
he criticised the union for
offering him a “s*****” contract earlier in his playing days while he
also slammed former coach Rory
Duncan over his lack of game time during the 2017/18 PRO14
season.
Dweba has since spoken to all
parties, saying he was misinterpreted in the interview.
“Me and Rory had a chat
yesterday and I told him that’s how I felt at that time,” Dweba told Sport24 via
WhatsApp on Tuesday.
“As a youngster, I also
wanted the opportunity to showcase myself in the PRO14. We put everything to
rest, so we are all good.”
Dweba was firmly behind Torsten
van Jaarsveld in the pecking order that season, while Duncan also had the
promising Jacques du Toit in the mix.
“The minute I saw the story,
I picked up the phone and phoned Joseph,” Duncan said from Worcester.
“I told him I had seen the
comments and the first thing he told me was that it had been misinterpreted.
“He was frustrated at the
time and I understand that. Going into the campaign he was a 22-year-old who
was extremely ambitious, and he sat behind Torsten.
“Joseph and I cleared the
air and he said he didn’t want the comments to come out like that. He just wanted
to express his frustrations.”
Verster, meanwhile, says that the
Cheetahs would be addressing the issue with their players, further encouraging
them to be open in coming forward with any issues they may have.
“I was very disappointed
because I have looked after Joseph very specifically,” Verster said.
“He has had some challenges.
I sorted his contracts, I sorted some other benefits for him, and we upped his
salary to where, now even with Frans Steyn and Ruan Pienaar here, he would have
been the second highest earner if he had stayed.
“He had some challenges in
the past with previous coaches and so on, but we were very good to him in the
past 18 months or so, so I was shocked.”
Dweba had also picked up the
phone to call Verster when the story broke.
“He called me and said it
was misinterpreted and he thanked me for everything, but the bad news is out
and the perception I wrong,” said Verster.
“We took care of him.
“I think it was a terrible
thing to do and I think he burnt bridges, not just with us.”
