Matavesi offered big Japanese move
Josh Matavesi has followed in the footsteps of former Bath Rugby fly-half Freddie Burns in taking up a lucrative contract with Japanese side Shokki Shuttles.
Burns, who came through the academy at his home-town club Bath but also had spells at Gloucester and Leicester Tigers, was told his services were no longer required at The Rec last year and in June 2020 he left the club to take up a contract with the Kariya City side.
This season the team has rebranded as Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi ahead of the rebranding of the Top League to the Japan Rugby League One in 2022 but their interesting in signing top talent from abroad has not changed.
The Bath Chronicle understands Matavesi, 30, is already in Japan having agreed the terms of his release from his contract with Bath.
Matavesi said: “It was a really tough decision to make.
“I had no thoughts of leaving; it’s not as if it’s been happening for a while, it’s happened really quickly.
“It wasn’t a case of Stu trying to get rid of me because of the salary cap or anything like that; it was just an opportunity came up for me. With me being the wrong side of 30 now and people like Max Ojomoh and Will Butt coming through, I just saw it as a really good opportunity to secure my future after I’ve stopped playing.
“I’m not going to sit here and say it’s purely a rugby decision - it’s not.
It’s something I can help my family with; I want to support my wife and my kids and make sure I’m well looked after when I’ve finished rugby.
“I would never be paid the money that I’m going to be paid if I was in the Premiership.
“I’m forever indebted to Stu for allowing me to do this because we’re like two weeks away from the start of the season.
“From day one he said it was an opportunity I would probably never get again.
“He said he would do the best for me as a person.
“He knows the stuff that is going on in my life and I said an opportunity had came up in Japan and it was pretty life-changing for me and my family.
“When I told him the numbers he wasn’t selfish at all and didn’t say I couldn’t go; he wanted to do what was best for me and he put me first which I massively respect and I owe him a huge amount for that.”
Cornish-born Matavesi has 24 caps for Fiji and joined the Blue, Black and White in January 2020 from Newcastle Falcons as a direct replacement for Welsh star Jamie Roberts who was allowed to leave The Rec midseason to join South African Super Rugby side the Stormers.
The former Exeter Chiefs, Ospreys, Racing Metro and Worcester Warriors utility back has been a regular for Bath since his arrival thanks to his ability to cover fly-half as well as centre and has made 27 appearances in the Blue, Black and White but the emergence of Max Ojomoh and Orlando Bailey from the club’s academy means director of rugby Stuart Hooper feels he has enough depth at 12 and 10 to allow Matavesi to depart.
Hooper said: “The situation with Josh was very simple, he came to speak to me and he had been offered an opportunity to go elsewhere which was a very good one for him and his family at this time in his career.
“He was in a position where he desperately wanted to take the opportunity and that’s not him saying he didn’t like it here or we didn’t want him here, but sometimes there are bigger reasons for people leaving.
“I care for the guys very deeply and I obviously care for the club. The development of this squad, the capacity to compete has to come first and we have some fantastic players in that position in Max [Clark], Will [Butt] and Max [Ojomoh] who can play and excel.
“Josh goes with our blessing on to a fantastic opportunity for him and his family and we wish him all the best for the future.”
Providing an update on Bath’s recruitment plans having said at the start of the summer the club are looking to make additions in the forwards, Hooper said: “We are working hard on it and there will be a couple of additions to this squad.
“They may not be here before the start of the season, but we have the capacity to bring in a couple more people before the season or during the first part of the season to help us and really boost the squad, not just for now but for longer-term as well.”