Matawalu is keen on return to Warriors
FORMER Glasgow Warriors fans’ favourite Niko Matawalu could be set for a sensational return to the club after a two-year absence.
New head coach Dave Rennie is interested in signing the Fijian international, who is a free agent after being released by Exeter Chiefs at the end of last season.
The pair have met to discuss terms and, although negotiations are progressing well, no deal has yet been signed.
Matawalu has been seen keeping himself fit on the back pitches at Scotstoun in an attempt to convince Rennie he deserves a deal.
Sportsmail understands he has made it clear that he wants to come back, although there is expected to be interest from elsewhere in his undoubted talents.
The 28-year-old, who left Glasgow for Bath in 2015, is still adored by the club’s supporters and needs to get his career back on track after a disappointing spell in the Aviva Premiership.
New Zealander Rennie can already boast some big-name signings, including Scotland international Huw Jones from the Stormers in South Africa, Lelia Masaga from his former team the Waikato Chiefs and Adam Hastings from Bath.
But, for many fans, bringing back the little Fijian to compete for a place at scrum-half or on the wing would top the lot after they were thrilled by his dynamic style during the Gregor Townsend reign.
One of the most attack-minded players ever seen at the club, his fantastic array of skills and unpredictability kept opposition defences on their toes.
On the downside, he was temperamental and picked up unnecessary yellow cards.
So instinctive was the mercurial No 9 that he often frustrated and delighted Townsend in equal measure by throwing away the playbook and doing things entirely his own way.
Matawalu, who has 32 caps for his country, helped the Warriors secure their first-ever Pro12 title with victory over Munster in the play-off final in his last year at the club.
He scored 26 tries for Glasgow, some of which will live long in the memory, before his big-money move to Bath.
He failed to make any sort of impression, however, playing just ten times for the English giants.
Matawalu also suffered frustration after joining Exeter Chiefs a year ago, and never played a single match through injury and loss of form.
Off the field, he had a serious court case hanging over him until two weeks ago at Taunton Crown Court, when he was cleared of sexually assaulting a woman at a city centre bar in Exeter while on a night out.
Since then, he has stepped up training and his attempts to win a new rugby contract, preferably with Glasgow.
The player has never hidden his love for the Warriors and the city of Glasgow — and even travelled up from his home in the West Country when he was at Exeter to watch them in action.
‘I loved my time in Glasgow and the Warriors were my brothers,’ Matawalu told Sportsmail in June when Scotland played Fiji in his homeland. ‘I still have lots of good friends in Glasgow and I go back when I can.
‘It is a long way but I always love going there.’
If a return to the Warriors does come to pass for Matawalu, Henry Pyrgos arguably has more to fear than the club’s other No 9, Ali Price.
Price goes into the new season as first-choice scrum-half as he is the type of livewire player favoured by Rennie.
Fellow Scotland international Pyrgos, by contrast, is reliable without having the flair of Matawalu and could find himself further down the pecking order if the Fijian does indeed return to Glasgow.
A Warriors spokesman said: ‘It is not our policy to comment on speculation.’