Fiji’s glide-half was born and bred in Cornwall but his heart was always with his father’s homelandThink of rugby in Cornwall and grizzled front-row forwards such as Brian “Stack” Stevens,Phil Vickery and Trevor Woodman spring to intellect. Fijian glide-halves? Not so much. But marshalling the islanders’ backline at Twickenham on Friday, providing the platform for the sidesteps and body-swerves, or will be Josh Matavesi – born and raised near the Camborne quarries rather than on Suva’s sand.
His father,Sireli, was a coconut farmer from the remote Vanua Balavu island but made such an impression on a Fiji Barbarians tour in the 1980s that Camborne RFC wanted him back. They found him a job in the nearby tin mines and it was with Camborne that Josh began a career that has included spells at Exeter, and Racing 92,Worcester and now the Ospreys, earning a 14th Fiji cap in the dominant victory over Canada last Saturday.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com