Fiji international Josh Matavesi makes mid-season switch to Bath
Fijian utility back Josh Matavesi is set to curtail his stint in the Greene King IPA Championship with Newcastle Falcons with a move to the Premiership with Bath.
Matavesi, 29, announced his retirement from Test rugby late last year following Fiji’s pool stage exit from 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, and has been a key cog in Dean Richards’ Newcastle machine since signing from the Ospreys in 2017.
Bath boss Stuart Hooper is set to enlist Matavesi, eldest brother of Northampton Saints hooker Sam and Newcastle academy prospect Joel, ahead of an expected Six Nations absence and a reported Super Rugby switch.
Bath are currently without England and British and Irish Lions centre Jonathan Joseph with a foot injury sustained in defeat to Gloucester earlier this month, and while he is expected to recover over the next week, he will likely be involved with England’s Six Nations campaign.
Continue reading below…
WATCH: Big Jim and Goodey are joined in the studio by Ulster legend Darren Cave to round up the Champions Cup action and look ahead to the final round. All this and much much more.
Furthermore, South African newspaper Rapport are reporting that Jamie Roberts, another Lions centre, is set to leave the West Country imminently to join Super Rugby outfit the Stormers in Cape Town, South Africa.
While Bath welcomed the return of Kiwi centre Jackson Willison from injury during last weekend’s home European loss to Harlequins, Matavesi is set to bolster the West Country club’s midfield, cushioning the potential loss of Roberts to Super Rugby and Joseph’s expected England call-up.
Batten down the hatches. #Stormers #SuperRugby #JamieRoberts #Springboks #SouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/NJqhfD8Uzi
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 15, 2020
It is not entirely clear whether the 24-cap international will join Bath on a loan deal lasting until the end of the season or on a more permanent basis, although RugbyPass understands it’s the latter. All the same, the powerful Cornish-born playmaker, who also covers fly-half, would be a welcome addition to Bath’s Premiership run, having struggled to secure a consistent run of form so far this season.
Newcastle Falcons, meanwhile, currently sit atop the Championship table after eight rounds of action and are expected to make an immediate return to English rugby’s top flight after succumbing to relegation last season.
Comments on RugbyPass
Mad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
1 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
9 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
9 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
5 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
4 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
4 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
4 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
200 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
9 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
9 Go to commentsProbably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
200 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
200 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
5 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
200 Go to comments