Saints title winner Matavesi 'buzzing' as he gets ready to return to the Gardens

The popular Fiji forward claimed Gallagher Premiership glory with Saints last season before making the move to Lyon.

He made Northampton his home during five successful years at Saints, but he has not been back since his departure last summer.

This week though, with his Royal Navy team taking on the Royal Air Force in an Inter Service Championship match (kick-off 4pm), Matavesi will finally get the chance to grace the Gardens again.

And he said: "I'm buzzing really because it didn't probably end the way I wanted it to and I didn't get the chance to say goodbye.

"I'm excited to get back because it's like my second home and I've got a lot of awesome memories there.

"It's where I played my best rugby and I really enjoyed it.

"Leaving after the Premiership win was awesome.

"I haven't been back to Northampton yet, which is gutting, but at Christmas we said to the kids 'do you want to go and see family in Cornwall?' and they didn't want to - they wanted to go and see all their friends in Northampton instead, which is an awesome thing.

"I'm looking forward to being back."

So how has life in France been treating Matavesi?

"It's good," he said. "It's a different experience but I'm happy I did it.

"The language barrier is hard but we live in a really nice place, we've made some good friends and that's helped."

Matavesi hasn't switched off from life at Saints, keeping a close eye on his former club from afar.

"I've been quite lucky because Saints have had quite a lot of games on Friday nights so I've been able to watch," he said.

"If we (Lyon) are playing and I'm not playing, I always look for that result, but Saints is the second result I look for."

Matavesi was speaking to this publication in the hours leading up to Lyon's European Challenge Cup quarter-final at Ospreys.

Matavesi started in that match and helped Lyon to claim a 20-18 victory, setting up a semi-final clash with Racing 92 on May 4.

But he will now turn his attentions to helping the Navy claim victory in Northampton this weekend.

The squad was due to meet up in Plymouth on Sunday night and train during the week before travelling to the Gardens for a team run on Friday.

Matavesi said: "Unfortunately I won't get to spend much time in Northampton but it will be awesome to be back around the place."

Tickets for the afternoon cover both the women's (1pm) and men's (4pm) fixtures, and they can be purchased here: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/northamptonsaints/EDP/Event/Index/357