Sam Matavesi (born 13 January 1992) is a Fijian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player who plays for the

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

in the

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

competition but also had a short stint with

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

side,

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. The city is on t ...

. His position of choice is

hooker Hooker may refer to: People * Hooker (surname) Places Antarctica * Mount Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (South Shetland Islands) New Zealand * Hooker River * Mount Hooker (New Zealand) in the Southern Alps * Hoo ...

even though he has played at Blindside flanker and Number 8 for

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

Career

Sam is the younger brother of

Josh Matavesi Joshua Lewis Matavesi (born 5 October 1990) is a rugby union player, who currently plays for Japanese side Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi, and formerly played for the Fiji national team at international level. Matavesi was born in Cornwall, Eng ...

. His father, Sireli Matavesi came to England in the 1980s from Fiji and never left. He played for

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, a team his 3 sons also played for. Sam also works for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, working out of the

RNAS Culdrose Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (RNAS Culdrose, also known as HMS ''Seahawk''; ICAO: EGDR) is a Royal Navy airbase near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall UK, and is one of the largest helicopter bases in Europe. Its main role is serv ...

as well as playing for their rugby union team. He made his debut for the Flying Fijians against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

in the

2013 IRB Pacific Nations Cup The 2013 Pacific Nations Cup rugby union tournament was held between five national sides in the Pacific Region: Canada, Fiji, Japan, Tonga, and USA. Samoa were the reigning champion after they defeated Fiji in the 2012 competition but took the y ...

off the bench at Number 8. In December 2019, Matavesi joins

in the

with immediate effect from the 2019-20 season.

References

External links

* Fijian rugby union players 1992 births Living people Rugby union hookers Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Cornish Pirates players Stade Toulousain players Fiji international rugby union players 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players {{Fiji-rugbyunion-bio-stub