Matavesi hasn't let Covid-19 stand in his way at Saints

With club and country, the virus put a spanner in the works.

Matavesi tested positive while on international duty with Fiji during the autumn and was consigned to a hotel room for close to two weeks.

But this isn’t a story of struggle, it’s a much more upbeat tale.

One of a player who has faced plenty of obstacles but overcome them to become a real contender for the Saints No.2 shirt.

Matavesi is now the current incumbent, most recently producing another strong all-round showing in Saints’ impressive 31-26 success at Gloucester last Saturday.

And he said: "With rugby, you need a bit of luck here and there and when I came back from being with Fiji, Reece (Marshall) had a bit of a head knock so I went straight into the team, which was nice.

"I've started every game since I've been back now and it's nice. It helps me.

"I had come off the bench against Worcester before the whole Covid thing (last March) and it feels like years ago now.

"All this Covid stuff happened and it wasn't ideal for us after we came back and it was harder because we were a losing team.

"But as a group we've definitely turned a corner and hopefully after beating Worcester and Gloucester we can look forward and now try to get another win this weekend at Wasps, which would be massive for us."

Matavesi has enjoyed an interesting journey since joining Saints from the Cornish Pirates in December 2019.

He initially struggled to get first-team game time and more often featured for the Wanderers, with the coaches opting to use him in the back row.

His ability to get over the ball and win turnovers left some feeling he might be suited to a role at seven in the first team.

But that was never Matavesi's goal, with the hooker spot always the one in his sights.

"It didn't help me to be that versatile really because you're giving coaches something else to look to.

"If you're a second row who can play back row or a six who can play eight, it's not that big a difference, but in the front row, you need to stay there, especially because I've only been playing there for three years now.

"It's massive for me to train there and play there because it's where I want to be."

Saints' free-flowing game plan suits Matavesi, who possesses good passing and handling skills, as shown when he played a part in a Shaun Adendorff score last weekend.

And with confidence now creeping back into the team, it is helping every player.

"If we had conceded that try after half-time a few months ago it would have probably beaten us, but we came out and scored three tries in 10 minutes and for me being out there, it felt like we were back to where we were when I first came to the club," Matavesi said.

"You could just sense boys had more confidence on the ball and we were willing to have a go.

"When you're losing, everything gets looked at a lot more and magnified and instead of giving that pass that's on, you're a bit more cautious.

"As a group, that confidence is back and I think that makes us easily a top-four team."

Saints had five weeks without a game before beating Gloucester as the club had to deal with a Covid outbreak in early January.

Matavesi knew the drill, having already experienced a tough autumn with Fiji, with the nation only being able to play one of their scheduled four Autumn Nations Cup matches after an outbreak in the camp.

Matavesi explained: “I went to the World Cup as first choice and I wanted to kick on, and we had four massive games in the autumn and I wanted to make four starts to show the Saints what I could do.

“We only got one game, against Georgia, and it was a tough time.

“I spent 12 days in my hotel room and I felt I should be at home.

“I was quite lucky because I got some stuff I could use to workout in my hotel room and I would just look forward to meals, but I lost all my taste and smell so even the things I looked forward to I couldn’t enjoy.

“As players now, we're quite used to all the testing and things and we have to do it.

"It's becoming a lot more normal to us now."

Matavesi will now look forward to continuing his personal momentum at Wasps this weekend.

"We had some good performances against Gloucester last weekend and it helps us tick on," he said.

"A lot of players played really well and it should help us grow individually and as a team.

"It's a massive game for us and we go there with a mindset that we want to win.

"It is just the next game and we're not looking any further than that.

"If we work hard and it goes right then we can move on to the next one and the next one after that."