On Thursday, Bath Rugby announced the addition of center Josh Matavesi and the departure of center Jamie Roberts. Essentially the club filled the void of Roberts by bringing in another quality rugby player in Matavesi. It will be interesting to see how Matavesi gels with the rest of the club and how he's used.
Matavesi is a 29-year old Fijian who has been playing in the Premiership for a while having played for Exeter, Worcester, and Newcastle as well as having played for the Ospreys in the Pro14. Having played for Fiji at the international level, he is quite the talent, but he is also incredibly versatile as he can play flyhalf and fullback, which will be useful for the the team. He played for Fiji in the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cup. This was what was said by the club in their press release: "Matavesi’s experience alongside his ability to generate momentum as a ball carrying threat and to distribute as a ball player will bring important attributes and versatility to the senior squad for the remainder of the season in the Premiership."
Director of Rugby Stuart Hooper had to say this about Matavesi: “Josh can help us to bring a different dynamic in the midfield and enable us to create momentum, and to find space through his distribution and kicking skills. We know Josh will link up really well with players such as Jackson Willison and Max Wright, and I am looking forward to seeing those new combinations develop." It sounds like that bringing in Matavesi, despite the loss of Roberts, will be more beneficial for the squad as he provides a lot of dynamism.
Roberts had transferred over to Bath from the Harlequins for the 2018-19 season as he made 34 appearances for the team. Roberts had decided to make the move down to play in Super Rugby for the Stormers in South Africa. The move was an immediate one.
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