Bedford’s DNA impresses powerhouse Matavesi
JOEL Matavesi has committed himself to Bedford Blues having been enticed by the club’s expansive and entertaining style of play.
Matavesi, 28, has spent the last three seasons on loan at Bedford, making 22 appearances while benefiting from his former club Northampton Saints‘ close tie with the Championship side.
The powerhouse back adds a great deal of versatility to Mike Rayer’s backline. While predominantly seen as a centre, he also provides competition at fly-half in Bedford’s experienced backline.
“It’s been a pretty easy transition due to there being a great bunch of boys here,” he told The Rugby Paper. “The fact I’ve played here before, know all the coaches like Mikey and they play a brand of rugby that suits me is why I’ve made my decision. Bedford’s DNA is fast paced rugby. I haven’t been able to play much rugby at Northampton in recent years, so to be able to come here and compete for a starting spot is huge. The Championship is full of talent because it’s such a good level.
“Fly-half is a position I’ve played in the past and I’ll do a little bit this year but it’ll be more for cover, hopefully not too much as I prefer inside centre. The last three years I’ve been involved here we’ve been top four so we can’t look too far past that. When we’re on it there’s not a team in the league that we can’t beat.”
Cornwall-born Matavesi, who is the brother of 47-cap Fijian centre Josh and 25-cap hooker Sam, broke into the Premiership in 2017 when he made the switch to Newcastle Falcons where he made five first-team appearances for the Kingston Park side, scoring one try on his league debut against Sale Sharks in 2021.
Following a successful trial period at Northampton, he penned a short-term contract with the men in Black, Green and Gold where he has spent the last 18 months making 10 appearances and scoring 22 points.
Matavesi left Franklin’s Gardens as a Premiership champion and despite the exodus of club legends such as Courtney Lawes, he feels his former employers are destined to continue competing at the top.
He said: “Being involved in some shape or form was amazing. We were the best team throughout the season and sometimes you don’t see the hard work that goes into it. The boys got over the line playing the worst game they’ve played all season in the final but to end up winning was special.
“Last year they had boys in the leadership group that are leading now, so they were leading things anyway. They’ll be fine and will find their feet, it’s a young team that’s played a lot of rugby together.”
Bedford have an exciting academy of youngsters coming through and the experienced Premiership players like Matavesi and Michael Le Bourgeois enjoy passing down their wisdom.
“It’s something I’m very keen on,” said Matavesi. “I’m very lucky that throughout my career I’ve had people help me out at all hours. We’ve got a pretty old backline but we still share what we’ve learnt. Alfie Garside has joined us after coming out of university. His brother Jake is at Saints and I think Alfie is going to be pretty special as he’s a bit of a tank in the centres. He’ll be a player to watch out for this season.”
