Joshua Lewis Matavesi (born 5 October 1990) is a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player, who currently plays for National 2 (West) side

Camborne RFC Camborne RFC was established in 1878, known locally by fans as 'Town', are one of the most famous rugby union clubs in Cornwall. They are currently champions of Regional 1 South West, a level five league in the English rugby union system and ar ...

, and formerly played for the Fiji national team at international level. Matavesi was born in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, to a Cornish mother and Fijian father.

Early life

Matavesi was born in

Camborne Camborne (from Cornish language, Cornish ''Cambron'', "crooked hill") is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth, C ...

, to a Cornish mother and Fijian father. He identifies himself as "Cornish Fijian" and has said that he feels Cornish, not English. His father, Sireli Matavesi, who is from

Vanua Balavu Vanua Balavu (pronounced ) is the third largest island in Fiji's Lau archipelago, and the main island of the Northern Lau Group. Geography and infrastructure This coral and volcanic island has a land area of . Its maximum elevation is . The isl ...

Lau Islands The Lau Islands (also called the Lau Group, the Eastern Group, the Eastern Archipelago) of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about sixty islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited. T ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, toured the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as a Fiji Barbarian in 1987 where he met his wife, Karen.

Club career

Matavesi was offered a contract by the

. He also played rugby for the same club as his father. He also played for

Mounts Bay RFC Mounts Bay RFC was a Cornish rugby club formed in December 1999 and based in Penzance, England, which folded in July 2009. Initially formed as an offshoot from Penzance & Newlyn RFC, the club operated as an independent club. Mounts Bay were pr ...

National Division Two National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

. He also played for

Truro College Truro and Penwith College is a further education college in Cornwall, England. History Truro College was founded in 1993 in Gloweth near Threemilestone, Truro, Cornwall, to replace the Truro Sixth Form College. Penwith College was founded in ...

and has also made a handful of appearances for Exeter United. In December 2008, he was called up to the England Under-20 squad for the 2009 Six Nations Under-20 tournament. He was signed on by the

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

in August 2009 before making his debut against

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

at fullback. Josh played in the

2010 IRB Junior World Championship The 2010 IRB Junior World Championship was the third annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby's ...

with Fiji U20s in Argentina. It was then announced that he had signed on for

Racing Métro 92 Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity domed stadium Paris La Défense Arena, l ...

in the Top 14 competition as a Medical Joker for

Juan Martín Hernández Juan Martín Hernández (born 7 August 1982) is an Argentine retired rugby union player. A mainstay of the Argentina national team '' The Pumas''. He played for the club Toulon in the French Top 14 competition. His 2010 move to Racing brought ...

. He made his Top 14 debut off the bench against

SU Agen Sporting Union Agen Lot-et-Garonne (), commonly referred to as SU Agen, Agen () or SUALG, is a French professional rugby union club based in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne that competes in the Pro D2, France's second division of rugby. Founded in 1908, ...

in April 2011. In 2012, he signed a contract with

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors are a professional rugby union club based in Worcester, England. They most recently played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby union, before being suspended by the Rugby Football Union, RFU in September 2 ...

. On 31 January 2014 he signed for the

Ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

. Josh signed to play for the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

from the 2017–18 season. He subsequently joined

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in January 2020. On 9 September 2021, Matavesi departs Bath to travel to Japan to join Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi in

Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, b ...

competition from the 2021-22 season.

International career

In November 2009, he was called up to join the Fiji team for the

2009 Autumn Internationals The 2009 end of year rugby internationals, also known as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, saw Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina, tour the northern hemisphere. The headline event of the series was an attempte ...

against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He made his debut against

playing at fullback and was replaced in the second-half. He came off the bench against Ireland, replacing Norman Ligairi at fullback, but in the final test against Romania, he started at

flyhalf In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

because Fiji's first choice 10,

Nicky Little Nicky Tyrone Little (born 13 September 1976) is a former professional rugby union footballer. He plays at fly-half. He is a nephew of All Blacks centre Walter Little, but represents Fiji at international level. Career He has scored 652 point ...

had already returned to his club along with a few other players. Fiji defeated the Romanians 29 - 18 with Matavesi scoring 9 points and converting 3 of the 4 tries. He was part of Fiji's U20 team in the

in June 2010. In October, he was selected again to the Fiji team to take part in Fiji's end of year rugby tour to Europe. In 2015 Matavesi was named in Fiji's

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

squad. On 22 May 2018 he was named in the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

squad to face

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the Quilter Cup Fixture. Following fitness tests, It was determined

Bundee Aki Fua Leiofi Bundellu Aki (born 7 April 1990) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Connacht. Born in New Zealand, he represents Ireland at international level after qualifying on residenc ...

and Charles Piutau would both miss the game while fly-half

AJ MacGinty Alan "AJ" MacGinty is an Irish-born professional rugby player, who represents the United States in international competition. He primarily plays as a fly-half. MacGinty plays club rugby for Premiership Rugby team Bristol Bears. Early life A g ...

was withdrawn by his club. This led to Matavesi,

Finn Russell Finn Alastair Russell (born 23 September 1992) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who plays as a Fly-half (rugby union), fly-half for Premiership Rugby club Bath Rugby, Bath and Captain (sports), captains the Scotland national rugby ...

and

Malakai Fekitoa Malakai Fonokalafi Fekitoa (born 10 May 1992) is a Tongan professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Benetton and the Tonga national team. Early life Fekitoa was born in Haʻapai, Tonga. The ...

being added to the squad with the addition of Denis Buckley and

teammate Nili Latu. The Barbarians beat England 63–45. On 9 October 2019, after the conclusion of Fiji's involvement of the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

, Matevasi announced his retirement from international rugby, via a post on Instagram.

References

External links

*
Exeter profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matavesi, Josh 1990 births Cornwall RFU players Exeter Chiefs players Worcester Warriors players Ospreys (rugby union) players Racing 92 players Newcastle Falcons players Bath Rugby players Fijian rugby union players Fiji international rugby union players Fijian people of Cornish descent Living people Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks Sportspeople from Camborne English people of I-Taukei Fijian descent English expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Fijian expatriate sportspeople in France English expatriate sportspeople in France People from Vanua Balavu Rugby union players from Lau Province Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi players 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players Fijian expatriate rugby union players in Japan