The competition to entice Springbok hooker Joseph Dweba to Sandy Park for the upcoming season has been won by Exeter Chiefs after his contract negotiations with the Stormers of the United Rugby Championship broke down.
The 29-year-old Dweba turned down a £300,000 offer to join the Sale Sharks last summer in order to finish his Cape Town contract.
He was then linked to moves to France and Japan, but he has since reached an agreement with the Chiefs.
Rob Baxter has acquired Dweba for a lot less than his Premiership opponents would have paid if they had been successful in their summer transfer attempt, according to South African RugbyPass sources.
For the Stormers, who are now ninth in the 16-team URC table, Dweba has scored three tries in ten games. Before relocating to Bordeaux, France, he gained experience with the Cheetahs during a 38-game, 14-try spell.
He will be the Chiefs’ second high-profile addition this season after Wallaby back row Tom Hooper, and he has been hired to replace Dan Frost, who is expected to join Premiership leaders Bath next season.
In the last six months of their contracts, the Chiefs also have club servant and captain Jack Yeandle and Jack Innard, whose futures are still up in the air.
Following the departure of winger Ben Loader to sign with Gloucester and scrum-half Herschel Jantjies to join Bayonne in France, Dweba will be the third player to leave John Dobson’s team.
When the Chiefs lost Nika Abuladze last summer, the loosehead was recruited, and he will now join his old Stormers teammate Kwenzo Blose in Devon.
Rassie Erasmus has not liked Dweba, who has six Springboks caps, since he played in an August 2022 World Cup warm-up match against Argentina.
However, he was included in a 56-man squad at the end of last week, which will travel to Cape Town for the first Springbok alignment camp of 2025 next month.
