Matavesi hopes for continued success following his 'incredible' 2023 campaign
Royal Navy and Fiji international Local Acting Leading Hand Sam Matavesi is looking for more of the same in 2024 following a 2023 campaign that was filled with memorable moments.
The Cornish-born Fijian raked up an impressive list of accolades in 2023, from playing a pivotal role in the Royal Navy's first Inter Services Championship win since 2016, through to starting for Fiji in their pre-World Cup win against England at Twickenham and reaching the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in 16 years.
Matavesi also enjoyed a successful campaign with Northampton Saints where he helped his team to reach the Champions Cup knockout stages and to the top of the Premiership Rugby table.
Speaking in an interview with the Royal Navy Rugby Union, Matavesi explained how he hoped the successes of 2023 would continue into his upcoming 2024 campaign.
He said: "It’s been incredible, to get to a World Cup quarter final with Fiji for the first time in 16 years is a massive achievement, and then to come back to the Saints – where the boys have been on fire – and to the top of the Premiership and our group in Europe is absolutely massive. Hopefully it continues!"
Matavesi was presented with a Battlefield Promotion before heading out to France for his second ever Rugby World Cup appearance, where the Flying Fijians enjoyed a successful and well-publicised World Cup build-up.
He gives credit to Fiji head coach Simon Raiwalui for giving the people of Fiji "a team to be proud of" and drew parallels to both his club at Saints and the Royal Navy.
"That’s probably why Fiji have been so good, I think, is the culture," he added. "What was created by Simon and the team of coaches was going back to the roots and our villages. We wanted to give the people of Fiji a team to be proud of.
"At Saints a lot of the core group have been together for a long time, and it’s been building. We knew we were good, and now everyone is seeing that.
"It's tough to be at a World Cup and have a foot in both camps. Obviously, you can keep an eye and see how the performances are going, but to come back in when everyone is flying is incredible. A lot of the boys play with a lot of confidence and freedom, putting their hands up.”
Following the Royal Navy's historic win against the British Army at Twickenham last year, Matavesi hopes the Navy can back it up and win the Inter Services back-to-back for the first time since the they last did so in 1973-74, while also acknowledging that there are plenty of other challengers to face.
"There’s a good group of players in the Navy, and the Navy has been good in letting them explore different levels of rugby, like the Army and RAF," he said.
"It rubs off on everyone else, and the more people you can get playing better levels of rugby it can only help the team.
"What we need is to back it up. We've got the French and then the RAF before the Army at Twickenham. We've not beaten the French in France since 2002, so there are a lot of things still to do for this group.
"It’s tough for me because I can’t be with the group day in, day out, but I owe it to them to make the effort to get there and be at games, so the boys can see that I’m involved as much as anyone.”
The Navy's Senior Men start their build-up for the 2024 Inter Service Championship in February with matches against Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Cornish Pirates and Cornwall.
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