Joshua Lewis Matavesi (born 5 October 1990) is a

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 currently plays for Japanese side

Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi (also called Toyota Jido Shokki as distinct from Toyota, which was renamed Toyota Verblitz) is a Japanese rugby team owned by Toyota Industries. They were promoted to Japan's top-flight league Top League for the ...

, and formerly played for the

Fiji national team Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), 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 cons ...

at international level. Matavesi was born in

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 ...

, England, to a Cornish mother and Fijian father.

Early life

Matavesi was born in

Camborne Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) 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, Cornwall, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove ...

, 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 aka little Tonga (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 ...

, Fiji, 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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, 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

Camborne RFC Camborne RFC was established in 1878, and are one of the most famous rugby union clubs in Cornwall. They currently play in South West Premier following promotion from Tribute South West 1 West in 2015–16; a level five league in the English r ...

. 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 (last season 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 Leag ...

. He also played for Truro College 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 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 its home m ...

in August 2009 before making his debut against

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the ...

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 rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name ...

in the Top 14 competition as a Medical Joker for Juan Martín Hernández. 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, Ag ...

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

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top division of domestic ...

. On 31 January 2014 he signed for the Ospreys. 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 C ...

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. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is th ...

from the 2017–18 season. He subsequently joined Bath in January 2020. On 9 September 2021, Matavesi departs Bath to travel to Japan to join

Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (formerly 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, by absorbing the ...

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 against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

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

, replacing Kameli Ratuvou. 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 Norman Armstrong Senibici Ligairi (born 29 January 1976 in Nadi) is a Fijian rugby union player who usually plays as a fullback. He represents Fiji at international level in both the 15-a-side and 7-a-side game. Ligairi is to date the only Fi ...

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 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 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 onl ...

squad. On 22 May 2018 he was named in the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less ...

squad to face

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in the Quilter Cup Fixture. Following fitness tests, It was determined Bundee Aki and Charles Piutau would both miss the game while fly-half AJ MacGinty 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 primarily plays fly-half for Racing 92 in the Top 14. He has also represented Scotland at international level, having made his test debut against ...

and

Malakai Fekitoa Malakai Fonokalafi Fekitoa (born 10 May 1992) is a Tongan rugby union player who plays as a centre. He currently plays for Irish club Munster. He previously played for the Highlanders in the Super Rugby competition, in the ITM Cup, and for Ne ...

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

teammate

Nili Latu Nili Latu, playing name of Otenili Langilangi (born 19 February 1982) is a Tongan rugby union footballer. In 2018, Latu left Newcastle Falcons after helping Falcons achieve 4th in the Aviva Premiership, the highest finish in 20 years. He moved to J ...

. 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 match ...

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

References

External links

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Exeter profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matavesi, Josh 1990 births Cornish rugby union 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 People from Camborne English people of I-Taukei Fijian descent Fijian expatriate rugby union players 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 Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi players