Josh and Sam Matavesi eye Cornwall glory as family story comes full circle
As they prepare to face Lancashire in Saturday’s County Championship final, Josh and Sam Matavesi reflect on family, Camborne and the latest chapter in a rugby story rooted in Cornwall. (Photo Credit: Daniel Rule Photography)
Few rugby families are woven as deeply into the fabric of Cornish rugby as the Matavesis – and fewer still can claim a story that spans past, present and future.
When Cornwall run out at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday for the Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 final against Lancashire, it will mark another chapter in a narrative shaped as much by the grass banks of Camborne as by the international stage.
As brothers Josh and Sam prepare to line up alongside one another for their county, there is, in the background, the news that the latest Matavesi brother will ‘return home’ next season – almost like the final piece of a puzzle falling into place.
Joel Matavesi’s arrival from French Nationale 1 outfit Bourg-en-Bresse means the 30-year-old will join his brothers at Camborne for the 2026-27 National One campaign, adding another layer to a family story already deeply embedded in the club’s identity.
In 1985, their father, Sireli, was persuaded to return to Cornwall and play for Camborne after making an impression while touring with the Fiji Barbarians. From that moment on, the Matavesi name became synonymous with both the club and the county.
The Matavesi’s four uncles also represented Camborne, while Sireli later coached Josh, Sam and Joel through their formative years.
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And now, this weekend, Josh and Sam are hoping to help Cornwall to a first County Championship title since 2019.
“It’s incredibly special,” Sam, who will captain Cornwall on Saturday, tells National League Rugby.
“I grew up watching Cornwall and Camborne, and Redruth play. As a kid, those players looked like superstars.
“I remember standing on the bank at Camborne. Me and Josh used to play as kids at the top of the pitch behind the posts with our mates. Camborne just meant everything.
“It’s been a dream since I was a young so to get the chance to lead Cornwall out at Twickenham is very special.
“In terms of Joel coming to Camborne, honestly, I didn’t think it would happen!
“I think Josh said it jokingly in our WhatsApp group, and then I missed like 10 messages and then he said it again. I wasn’t sure if he was still joking!
“The other day we were all at a barbecue together, and I suddenly realised we’d all be playing together next season. When you actually stop and think about it, it’s pretty special.”
Josh smiles at the thought of it too, the sense of something coming full circle clearly not lost on him.
“To now have the chance to play together at Camborne is so special,” he adds.
“The club means everything to our family. Some of our best memories and some of our toughest moments have happened there.
“It’s not just about the rugby either. It’s about the people and the community, so to be able to represent the county this weekend as well, these are the moments you appreciate.”
Before the start of the 2025/26 season, the last time Josh and Sam had played alongside one another was for Fiji against Georgia at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
In the years that followed, their careers took them in different directions. Josh represented Bath and enjoyed a spell in Japan, while Sam tasted success with Toulouse as part of a title-winning side, helped Northampton Saints to Gallagher Prem glory and later spent a season with Lyon.
But their paths eventually, and perhaps inevitably, led back to Cornwall.
Josh returned to Camborne in 2023, while Sam followed last summer, meaning the opening game of the 2025/26 National Two West campaign – away at Chester – saw the brothers back in tandem.
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“We’ve played and trained together from a very young age, so that understanding we have is a bit of a luxury!” Josh says. “It has been great this year.”
“So I was planning on coming to Camborne this coming season, so not last year,” Sam admits.
“Speaking to the club, Tom Kessell (head coach), Steve Larkins (previous DoR) at the time, the chairman Martin Symons and our main sponsor Tony Chapman at CLX, we were able to put something in place.
“I knew, though, I couldn’t be half in and half wanting to be somewhere else so whilst I had options and opportunities with other clubs, I didn’t want to keep Camborne dangling.
“I have been involved all year (missed just two games this season) and it has been a great team to be involved with.
“National Two West is a really good league with some really good players, and I was surprised by the standard in a good way.
“But to come full circle has been great. If I look at my son now, he had boxing training the other night and he was wearing a full Camborne kit! At cricket training, he wears it. He loves it!
“The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, and that is so true. All our aunties and uncles are watching, they have all got season tickets so it has been very special playing for Camborne this season.”
Returning to their roots and playing alongside one another again was always going to carry huge significance for both brothers, but to do so while helping Camborne secure promotion to National One for the first time in the club’s history made it all the more memorable.
After being pipped to the title by Clifton in 2024/25, the Cherry and Whites dusted themselves down and responded, clinching the National Two West crown with a game to spare.
“We had to be at our best every week,” Josh, who is also defence coach at Camborne, says.
“We knew after last season, we might have had a target on our backs so we knew we had to be on it every week.
“I think that will be a really good learning for the group going into National One because we know you’ll have to turn up every week in that league.
“We did some great things this year. Going away to Hinckley (who finished 3rd) and winning, going to Cinderford and winning. The league is tough, relentless and physical so it was great to win the league and now it is about building towards National One, both on and off the field, to give us the best chance of succeeding.”
“It [playing in National One] is going to be an amazing opportunity for Camborne and the community,” Sam adds. “It is great for Cornwall. You have got [Cornish] Pirates in the Champ, us in National One and Redruth in National Two.
“As a sport in the county at the minute, it is thriving.”
Camborne’s success has perhaps, unsurprisingly, filtered into Cornwall’s return to the County Championship final.
Two resounding victories over defending champions Kent – 73-14 and 56-19 – bore plenty of Cherry and White fingerprints, with head coach Graham Dawe utilising 17 Camborne players across the two legs.
Josh and Sam are two of eight ‘Town’ representatives in Cornwall’s starting XV for Saturday’s showpiece, and both believe the combination of existing continuity and talent drawn from across the county has been a major factor in the side’s progress.
“The season we have had [at Camborne] does bring momentum,” Josh says. “But what is really important is the coaches have had a good mix and good representation from other clubs.”
Sam adds: “I love the fact you are bringing people in from Redruth, Launceston, St Austell, Penzance & Newlyn and other clubs and you are trying to win something together. Everyone wants to be here and play for Cornwall.”
The passion the Matavesi brothers have for their county is far from lip service. It is as genuine as it comes.
While both have played at the highest level of the sport, Saturday’s County Championship final carries just as much prestige. Sam’s admission that victory over Lancashire “would be up there” with winning the 2024 Premiership title with Northampton tells you all you need to know.
Even in a week where the 34-year-old has been called up by Fiji for this summer’s Nations Championship, Cornwall remains at the forefront of his mind.
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“Look, it is always an honour [to be called up],” Sam says. “I get to tell the [Fiji] lads all about the standard of Level 4 and playing for Camborne!
“My last game for Fiji was last July against Scotland, and then I had a bit of time and came back into pre-season with Camborne, so I’ve gone straight through since!
“But Cornwall this week first and foremost, then try and have a couple of weeks rest, but still train, before meeting up with Fiji at the end of this month.
“The focus is this week, and hopefully it is a successful week. It isn’t every day you get the chance to go to Twickenham and win something. You can never take that for granted.”
It is difficult to argue with that sentiment. However, success at Twickenham is something Sam tasted as recently as May when the Navy edged out the Army 41-36 in the Inter Services Championship.
Josh was part of the Navy coaching panel for the campaign, meaning the brothers now have the opportunity to complete a ‘Matavesi treble’ this season if Cornwall can overcome Lancashire and reclaim the County Championship title for the first time in four years.
For Sam, this season marked his first appearance for Cornwall since the 19-8 defeat to Lancashire in the 2017 final. Josh, meanwhile, had not fully represented the county since 2009 after injury ruled him out of last year’s campaign, despite being named in the squad.
On Saturday, though, the brothers will pull on the Cornwall jersey together in what promises to be another proud chapter in the Matavesi family story.
“To lead your county out, with your brother, with family in the stands, with the chance to win silverware is special,” Sam says.
“Walking out at Twickenham will be special,” echoes Josh. “There are going to be so many people there who we are familiar with, grew up with.
“The support for Cornish rugby is incredible. There was a great crowd down against Kent [nearly 2,500 were in attendance at Camborne for Cornwall’s first leg victory] so it just shows county rugby is not dead and we want to give the travelling support something to cheer about.
“Hopefully we can make it a day to remember.”
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