'I can't smell or taste' - Saints hooker Matavesi reveals Covid-19 battle
Saints hooker Sam Matavesi has revealed he was one of the 29 Fiji players to test positive for Covid-19 on international duty.
Matavesi and Co were hit by the virus at their French training base, meaning all of their pool matches in the Autumn Nations Cup had to be called off.
It left Fiji bottom of their pool but they are hoping to get the all clear as they aim to travel to Scotland for a game against Georgia this weekend.
And Matavesi has been outlining what his battle with Covid-19 has been like.
“I was part of the 29. I was one of the ‘famous 29’, so they say. I feel all right now," the Saints forward told Force.Net.
"Last Saturday, I was pretty rough to be fair. I had all the classic symptoms like a high temperature and it felt like a bad flu, if that makes sense.
“I’ve had a bit of chesty cough and a bit snotty and phlegmy throughout the whole week now. I’ve also lost my sense of smell and taste so, yeah, the full shebang.
"It’s my 11th day now so I feel fine except I can’t smell or taste.”
The Fiji players have been kept in their hotel to try to control the spread of the virus and it remains unclear how it entered the group.
“At the hotel we are at now, everyone’s in their own rooms,” Matavesi said.
“When you go to eat, obviously it is is self-service but you have your own tongs on your plate. Somebody’s obviously brought it in and it’s come in and done the worst so to speak.
"It went from one to four and then 29.
“We were so close to playing France. It was the Thursday before we were about to fly to play France so we got close to one game.
"I think from that the Italy game was definitely going to be cancelled.
“You can definitely understand why because it’s not an ideal situation but, touch wood, we should be all good to go for Georgia.
"I think if all the tests come back negative, we can show the Scottish Government our results and I think we can go and play Georgia.”