Game is as good as a rest for Matavesi
JOSH Matavesi has turned down the opportunity to put his feet up for two weeks, throwing his hat straight into the ring for Newcastle Falcons’ home game against Hartpury tomorrow night.
The centre has spent most of the last four months on international duty with Fiji, firstly competing in the Pacific Nations Cup and then the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Despite having only just returned from the international showpiece last weekend, the Cornishman has wasted no time in putting himself forward for selection for the Falcons’ first home assignment of the Greene King IPA Championship campaign.
“Being out in Japan was an amazing experience and exceeded all my expectations,” said the 29-year-old, who took his international cap tally up to 23 after appearing against Uruguay and Georgia in World Cup pool play before calling time in his Fiji career.
“Japan is a wonderful country, the people are awesome and the only disappointment as a Fijian group is we didn’t progress through the pool stage.
“The teams we were up against really brought their A-games, there was a little bit of complacency from us against Uruguay and ultimately it cost us.
“Overall it was a great experience to be part of an event like that, but on the same note I am also happy to be back at Newcastle Falcons.”
Fiji’s loss to Uruguay provided one of the shocks of the tournament, Matavesi reflecting: “The short turnaround going into the Uruguay and the number of team changes didn’t really help, but overall the World Cup was a great experience.
“Even before the tournament it was awesome to have so much time in Fiji – my kids came over and it was great for them to experience the Fijian side of our family.
“That is all done now, though, I am really happy to be back and I just want to get back playing for Newcastle as quickly as I can.
In Matavesi’s absence the Falcons have won all four of their games, although there have been notable scrapes along the way.
The former Ospreys, Worcester, Racing 92 and Exeter player added: “It is nice to get into the habit of winning and while I am sure the guys will be honest in saying they have not really properly hit their straps yet I think it is great we are still sat here with four wins from four games.
“The boys have acknowledged Saturday at London Scottish was not a great performance but we took the win and that is the main thing. “It is nice to know we have so much more in the tank and we are determined to bring that out on to the pitch for everyone to see. “What we have to realise is this is not a walk-over league. “The team coming down from the Premiership is everyone’s cup final for the that first part of the season and if you stay at the top of the table that extends out to the full season. “We have to keep high standards every day in training and at every single match and if you disrespect this division you will be made to look stupid.
“We cannot be sucked into the trap, we have to play Premiership intensity rugby in the Championship, keep that pressure on teams and accept there will be tough sides here who will make life difficult for us.
“If we respect our opposition and trust our processes then I think we will be fine, but it takes a lot of hard work to make it happen.”
Keeping an open mind as to which sides will be up near the top of the table, Matavesi said: “Some people had been billing it as a straight shoot-out between us and Ealing, but Ealing lost their opening game down at Cornish Pirates.
“I never felt it would just be us and Ealing because Cornish Pirates are a very good side and there are others in this league too.
“It just goes to show you cannot take anything for granted.”
The Falcons defeated Hartpury 52-14 in Gloucestershire less than a fortnight ago in cup action, Matavesi confident the onset of league rugby and the chance to play at Kingston Park will see the bar being raised even higher.
He added: “We want to make Kingston Park a stadium where we really suffocate teams, where they don’t want to come and play, and our only game here so far was a 57-0 win against a good Doncaster side.
“We will be looking to continue that to build a real foundation to our season, allying that to our record of winning away.
“Our intention is to completely blow Hartpury away with our tempo and the focus is on us just taking care of our own game.”
I am really happy to be back and I just want to get back playing for Newcastle as quickly as possible Josh Matavesi