Hooker on bench for quarterfinal after fathers' death

NEWS: Days after his fathers’ death hooker Sam Matavesi will be on the bench for Fiji in their World Cup quarterfinal against England on Saturday.

Matavesi dropping to the bench is one of five changes from the team that began the 23-24 defeat to Portugal last Sunday to the starting line-up for the match in Marseille.

Matavesi’s participation in the knock-out stages had been thrown into doubt when he returned home to England, where he was born, following news of the death of his father.

But coach Simon Raiwalui revealed he had returned to France on Friday morning, accompanied by his brothers Josh, a former Fiji international, and Joel, also a former rugby player, to be available for Sunday’s clash.