Tabai Matson

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Tabai Matson

Matson in 2015
Birth name	John Tabaiwalu Fakavale Matson
Date of birth	(1973-05-14) 14 May 1973 (age 48)
Place of birth	, Fiji
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	104 kg (16 st 5 lb; 229 lb)
School	Christ's College
University	Lincoln University
Spouse	Nadia Matson (m. 1997)
Children	Michal Matson, Holly Matson, Isaac Matson
Occupation(s)	Professional Rugby Coach
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre All Black No. 950 Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1998–2000 2000–01 2001–06 CA Brive London Irish Yamaha Júbilo () Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1994–97 Canterbury 58 () Super Rugby Years Team Apps (Points) 1996–98 Crusaders 25 (30) National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1995–96 1999 New Zealand Fiji 5 2 (0) (0) Teams coached Years Team 2005–06 2006 2007–08 2009–11 2012 2013–2016 2015 2016–2017 2018–2021 2021– Yamaha Júbilo University of Queensland (Assistant) Gold Coast Breakers Canterbury (Assistant) Canterbury Head Coach Crusaders (Assistant) Fiji (Attack) Bath Chiefs (Assistant) Harlequins

John Tabaiwalu Fakavale Matson (born 14 May 1973) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and a former New Zealand and Fiji rugby union representative.

Education[]

Matson attended Nelson College from 1985 to 1986,^[1] before completing his secondary education at Christ's College in Christchurch.^[2]

Playing career[]

A centre, Matson represented Canterbury at a provincial level and the Crusaders in Super Rugby. He was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, in 1995 and 1996, playing 10 matches but no internationals.^[2] He played two matches for Fiji at the 1999 Rugby World Cup.^[3]

Coaching career[]

Matson formally played and coached Yamaha Júbilo in his final 3 seasons for the club. He went on to become assistant coach and player at the University of Queensland before becoming head coach of the Gold Coast Breakers in 2007.

In 2009 he help to reinvigorate the oldest Senior club on the gold coast as the Director of Rugby and Head coach of the 1st Grade Team they went on to win the Club Championships (in his absence as he joined Canterbury as an assistant near the end of the season).^[4]

He returned to New Zealand in 2009 acting as Canterbury assistant coach, before promoting up to head coach in 2012. He led Canterbury to their fifth consecutive ITM Cup title by winning the 2012 ITM Cup which set potentially an unbeaten run of victories in arguably the toughest Provincial Rugby Competition in the world.

In 2012 he was hired by the Brazil Rugby Federation as a consultant as they began their journey towards the Rio Olympics. He was focused on staging a training camp for the National Men's 15-a-side team and the Women's 7's team.^[5]

Matson is also the first non-Māori to coach the Māori All Blacks, assisting Head Coach Colin Cooper since 2013.^[6]

After Coaching the Māori All Blacks in their test victory against the Flying Fijians in June 2015,^[7] he joined Fiji where they went on to win the Pacific Nations Cup in Vancouver, Canada^[8] and then onto the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Matson was an assistant coach for the 3 years for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition. He has held both Attack and Defence roles for them during his time and is a specialist backs coach. His departure was announced in September 2020.^[9]

He will join Premiership Rugby side Harlequins as a senior coach ahead of the 2021–22 season.^[10]

References[]

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