{"id":472232,"date":"2026-03-12T22:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T22:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/472232\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T22:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T22:02:09","slug":"bok-back-for-exeter-after-flight-chaos-wallaby-and-italy-star-very-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/472232\/","title":{"rendered":"Bok back for Exeter after flight chaos, Wallaby and Italy star ‘very close’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joseph Dweba will be available for Exeter Chiefs\u2019 PREM Rugby Cup final date with Leicester<\/a> Tigers on Sunday after being forced to miss the semi-final because of travel disruption linked to the conflict in Iran.<\/p>\n

The Springbok hooker, who has scored five tries in 14 appearances for the Chiefs, returned to South Africa<\/a> to visit his family after the defeat against Bristol<\/a> Bears on January 24.<\/p>\n

Dweba, 30, who played in the first two rounds of the competition in September, was due back in Devon ahead of their semi-final with Northampton<\/a> Saints at Franklin\u2019s Gardens.<\/p>\n

But the flight back from South Africa, which was via Dubai, was cancelled because of the conflict, so he wasn\u2019t back in time for Chiefs<\/a> boss Rob Baxter to consider him for selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe probably would have involved him in the semi-final, obviously, to get some game time because he\u2019s had a three- or four-week break,\u201d said Exeter DoR Rob Baxter. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut with what was happening in Iran, his flight back from South Africa went through Dubai, so he literally was going to travel that weekend when everything broke out.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo everything got cancelled, shut down, and fortunately, he managed to get a flight midweek, but we felt it was just a bit late to involve him. You know, with just a couple of days\u2019 training.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just glad in a way that our PREM Cup block ended a week prior to the semi-final week, so, obviously, for the players, that was when we gave them some downtime.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately, none of them chose to go to Dubai for a few days, so we didn\u2019t get anybody pinned down in Dubai. We were very fortunate,\u201d said Baxter.<\/p>\n

Baxter, who has been struggling for fit forwards over the last few weeks, says that Richard Capstick<\/a> and Christ Tshiunza<\/a> are both back in full training and available to travel.<\/p>\n

While Tom Hooper<\/a> and Ross Vintcent<\/a> could be fit for the return to the Gallagher PREM against Sale Sharks<\/a> next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cTom Hooper\u2019s getting very close, I\u2019m pleased to say he has been out doing a fair bit of running on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if he carries on progressing through the week, then there\u2019s no reason for him not to be in full training next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoss Vintcent is very close. Manny (Feyi-Waboso) is a little bit behind those guys, but he\u2019s progressing very well. Scott Sio\u2019s very close.<\/p>\n

\u201cLen Ikitau is progressing well, but his shoulder is probably a little worse than we first thought. He\u2019s still two to three weeks off at best.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking like the side thickens out a little bit, quite quickly. Certainly, over the next two weeks, another group of players who should be back and available in a month,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joseph Dweba will be available for Exeter Chiefs\u2019 PREM Rugby Cup final date with Leicester Tigers on Sunday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-472232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}