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| Birth name | Matthew Donato Saunders | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 6 July 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 90 kg (200 lb; 14 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Matt Saunders is a rugby union player for the Philippines national rugby union team. [1] His rugby union position is at outside center. He is the top try scorer in the Philippines. Saunders is a former professional rugby league footballer with Sydney Roosters and rugby union footballer for Kubota Spears. [2]
He was born in the United Kingdom to a British father and a Filipina mother who hails from Pangasinan. He has three other siblings Oliver Benjamin and sister Abigail. [3]
Prior to his stint as a professional rugby league and rugby union footballer, he studied as an electrician in Australia and is qualified to practice the profession. [2]
Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league.
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries, rugby XIII in non-Anglophone Europe and South America, and referred to colloquially as rugby, football, footy or league in its heartlands, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 m (74 yd) wide and 112–122 m (122–133 yd) long with H shaped posts at both ends. It is one of the two major codes of rugby football, the other being rugby union. It originated in 1895 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, as the result of a split from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) over the issue of payments to players. The rules of the game governed by the new Northern Rugby Football Union progressively changed from those of the RFU with the specific aim of producing a faster and more entertaining game to appeal to spectators, on whose income the new organisation and its members depended.
Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sporting participants, who are paid for the time they spend competing and training. In the majority of sports which feature professional players, the professionals will participate at a higher standard of play than amateur competitors, as they can train full-time without the stress of having another job. The majority of worldwide sporting participants are amateurs.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It promotes and runs the sport, organises international matches for the England national team, and educates and trains players and officials.
The history of rugby league as a separate form of rugby football goes back to 1895 in Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire when the Northern Rugby Football Union broke away from England's established Rugby Football Union to administer its own separate competition. Similar schisms occurred later in Australia and New Zealand in 1907. Gradually the rugby played in these breakaway competitions evolved into a distinctly separate sport that took its name from the professional leagues that administered it. Rugby league in England went on to set attendance and player payment records and rugby league in Australia became the most watched sport on television. The game also developed a significant place in the culture of France, New Zealand and several other Pacific Island nations, such as Papua New Guinea, where it has become the national sport.
Craig Wing, also known by the nickname of "Wingy", is an Australian-born former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. He began his career in rugby league, playing for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Sydney Roosters in the NRL, representing Australia internationally and New South Wales in State of Origin. He switched to rugby union, playing in Japan for the NTT Communications Shining Arcs and the Kobelco Steelers, earning selection for the Japanese national team after completing three years residency.
Va'aiga Lealuga Tuigamala Pulelua Fesola'i, sometimes known as Inga Tuigamala, was a professional rugby union and rugby league footballer. Born in Samoa, he represented New Zealand in rugby union, winning 19 caps, and later Samoa in both rugby league and rugby union. He played in one rugby league and two rugby union World Cups.
Sports in the Philippines is an important part of the country's culture. There are six major sports in the Philippines: basketball, boxing, tennis, football, billiards, and volleyball.
Wales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales.
Semi Tadulala is a Fijian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a winger for Australian Queensland Cup club Northern Pride. A Fiji international representative at rugby league and rugby union, he previously played in the National Rugby League for Australia's Melbourne Storm club, in the Super League for England's the Bradford Bulls and the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, and in the Co-operative Championship for the Keighley Cougars. He has also played for Gloucester Rugby and Leeds Carnegie at rugby union.
Hugh Joseph McGahan is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, and coach who represented New Zealand. He retired as the New Zealand national team's all-time top try scorer, with 16. Since retirement McGahan has worked as a rugby league newspaper columnist and a football manager.
David Niumataiwalu, better known as David Niu, is an Australian-American dual-code international rugby league and rugby union administrator, coach and former player. Regarded as one of the founders of rugby league in the United States, he established the American National Rugby League (AMNRL), the United States' first domestic rugby league competition and formerly the national governing body for the sport. He later served as president of AFL Global, an organization promoting arena football.
Mark Kerry Graham is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer and coach. A back-rower and former captain of the New Zealand national rugby league team, he has been named as the greatest player the country has produced in the century from 1907 to 2006.
Frano Michael Botica is a New Zealand-Croatian rugby union and rugby league coach and former player in both codes, who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He is the head coach of the Philippines sevens team.
Oliver Saunders is an Australian–Filipino rugby union footballer for the Philippines national rugby union team where his position is at fly half. Saunders is a former professional rugby league footballer with Norths in the Jersey Flegg Cup. He is one of the leading try-scores in the Philippines team. Oliver is brothers with fellow Philippines players Matt Saunders and Benjamin Saunders. In 2011, he and his brother Matt signed to the NTT Communications Shining Arcs for the 2012/2013 season of the Japanese Top League competition.
Pakisonasi Afu is a professional rugby footballer who has represented Tonga in rugby league and Tonga A in rugby union. He is contracted to Austin Elite Rugby to play Major League Rugby in the United States. Afu previously played rugby league in the NSW Cup for New Zealand Warriors and Wyong Roos as a prop. His usual position in rugby union is centre.
The Philippines national rugby sevens team is a minor national sevens side. The 2012 Hong Kong Sevens was their first appearance in an IRB Sevens World Series. They were 1 of 4 Asian teams that qualified through regional tournaments to be included in the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens, it is also a qualifying tournament for inclusion in the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series. After the Philippines won third place against South Korea in the 2012 Singapore Sevens Series, they gained qualification to the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow. The Philippines finished third at the 2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series, and qualified to the 2019 Hong Kong Sevens World Series qualifier. At the tournament, the team defeated Zimbabwe and advanced to quarter-finals, where they lost to Asian rival Hong Kong.
Andrew Everingham is an Australian professional rugby footballer currently playing rugby union for the Fukuoka Sanix Blues in the Japanese Second Division Rugby. He previously played rugby league in the National Rugby League as a three-quarter back for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, and also played for the Philippines.
Andy Saunders is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer. He previously played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League. He is a former Penrith Panthers National Youth Championship Captain and has played over 100 games in the NRL's second tier reserve grade competition.