Melani Matavao

Last updated
Melani Matavao
Date of birth (1995-11-19) 19 November 1995 (age 28)
Place of birth Motoʻotua, Samoa
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb)
School St. Joseph's College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum-half
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2018 Otago 7 (5)
Correct as of 28 August 2023
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2015 Samoa U20 3 (0)
2017– Samoa 13 (40)
Correct as of 28 August 2023
National sevens team(s)
YearsTeamComps
2019– Samoa 20
Correct as of 28 August 2023

Melani Matavao (born 19 November 1995) is a Samoan professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for the Samoa national team. [1]

Contents

Club career

Matavao has come through Samoa's PPS Super 9 competition as a key player for the Aana Chiefs. [2] In 2018 he was given a place with Otago under World Rugby's Pacific Combine scheme, [3] [4] playing 7 games in the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season. [5]

In 2019 he signed for the Asia Pacific Dragons, [6] but did not play any matches with the team. [7]

International career

In 2015 Matavao was selected for the Samoan Under 20 side for the U20 World Championship in Italy. [8] In 2016 he was selected for Samoa A. [9]

He was selected for the Samoan national team in 2017, [10] making his debut in a test against Scotland in Edinburgh. [11] He played for Samoa in the 2018 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup. [12] He was decisive in Samoa's qualification for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, scoring two tries in a qualifier against Germany. [13]

In February 2019 he was selected for the first time for the Samoa Sevens. [14] [15] He was then named to Samoa's Rugby World Cup squad. [16] After the world cup, he played in the 2020 world sevens series. [17]

Matavao was selected for the Samoan squad to the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seilala Mapusua</span> Samoan rugby union player

Vaovasamanaia Seilala Mapusua is a retired Samoan rugby player who last played for the Kubota Spears of the Japanese Top League. Prior to his move to Japan in 2011, he also had long stints with the Highlanders in Super Rugby and London Irish in the Aviva Premiership. He is currently the head coach of Manu Samoa having been appointed in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uale Mai</span> Rugby player

Uale Mai Vala is a retired rugby union player who played for the country's national teams, Manu Samoa and Samoa Sevens. He is a former captain of the Samoa Sevens team which represent Samoa internationally in the IRB Sevens World Series. He was at the time of his retirement sevens rugby's most capped player, and Mai is considered one of the greats in the international sport. Mai has been one of the top points scorers in the IRB World Sevens Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samoa women's national rugby union team</span> Womens national rugby union team of Samoa

The Samoa women's national rugby union team is a national sporting side of Samoa, representing the nation at rugby union. The side first played in 2000, and have competed in three Rugby World Cup's since their debut in the 2002 tournament in Spain. In 2023, they claimed their first Oceania Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junior Poluleuligaga</span> Rugby player

Junior Poluleuligaga is a Samoan rugby union international player. He previously played for Exeter Chiefs in the Aviva Premiers before returning to Auckland and played two years with Auckland rugby union team before retiring 2015. He played as a Scrum-half and was educated at De La Salle College, Mangere East. His name is often abbreviated to Junior Polu. He is currently the Rugby Development Officer (RDO) for the Papatoetoe Rugby Football Club and occasionally plays for the La Salle Collegians old boys rugby team.

Aveau Tuala Lepale Niko Faitala Palamo is a Samoan rugby player, judge, politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa. He is a member of the Tautua Samoa Party.

The Papua New Guinea women's national rugby sevens team represents Papua New Guinea in international women's rugby sevens tournaments. They are regular participants at the Oceania Women's Sevens Championship and Pacific Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Hughes</span> Rugby player

Nathan William Jeremy Hughes is a professional rugby union player who is currently playing in the Japan Rugby League One side Ricoh Black Rams having left Bristol Bears in 2022. Born in Fiji he qualified to play for England on residency and won 22 caps between 2016 and 2019, however due to the amendment in international selection by the WRU, Hughes hopes to participate in the France 2023 RWC for his home nation. He plays as a flanker, a number 8 or at lock.

Melani Nanai is a Samoan rugby union player who plays as an outside back for the Crusaders.

Alatasi Tupou is a Samoan professional rugby union player from Apia, Samoa. He has represented Samoa in both rugby fifteens and sevens and was also a member of Mystic River's the 2016 National Championship squad in the American Rugby Premiership.

Paulo Scanlan is a Samoan footballer and rugby union player who has played for the Samoa national football team and Samoa national rugby sevens team.

Elijah Niko is a New Zealand rugby football player who currently plays rugby union for The Stade Aurilacois.

The Papua New Guinea women's national rugby union team played their first international against Fiji in 2016. They compete annually in the Oceania Rugby Women's Championship, and have not qualified for the Rugby World Cup as yet.

Matafeo George Latu is a Samoan lawyer and former dual international rugby union player who has played as a prop for both the Samoa national rugby union team and the Tonga national rugby union team. Since ending his rugby career he has worked as a lawyer in Samoa. He is the brother of lawyer and diplomat Leota Kosi Latu, and the husband of former Samoan Attorney-General Taulapapa Brenda Heather-Latu

Kelvin Tuʻiala Masoe is a Samoan track and field sprinter who competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He attended school at Vaiola College on the island of Savaii in Samoa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Stowers</span> New Zealander rugby union player

Henry Stowers is a New Zealand born, Samoan rugby union player who plays for the Benetton Rugby in the United Rugby Championship. His playing position is flanker. He is also a Samoan international.

Teofilio Fidow is a Samoan professional rugby union player who plays as a wing for Major League Rugby club New York and the Samoa national team.

Alamanda Lolo Motuga is a professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Super Rugby club Moana Pasifika. Born in New Zealand, he represents Samoa at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samoa at the 2022 Commonwealth Games</span> Sporting event delegation

Samoa competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England between 28 July and 8 August 2022. It was Samoa's thirteenth appearance at the Games. On 13 July 2022 SASNOC announced a team of 38 athletes competing in seven sports would represent Samoa.

Angela McGregor is a former New Zealand rugby sevens player. She represented New Zealand at the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai.

Pesamino Iakopo is a Samoan sprinter and rugby union player. He represented Samoa at the 2022 Pacific Mini Games and is part of the team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

References

  1. ↑ "Melani Matavao". ESPN scrum.
  2. ↑ "One Local Player in Samoa's Rugby World Cup Squad". August 31, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Pacific Combine creates new player pathway on islands". Rugby World. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  4. ↑ "'We just need to be more clinical'". Otago Daily Times. 28 September 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  5. ↑ "Melani Matavao". New Zealand Rugby History. April 19, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Hammington signs for Otago for two years". Otago Daily Times. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  7. ↑ "Asia Pacific Dragons' threat fails to materialise - at least for now". Otago Daily Times. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  8. ↑ "Matavao is the player to watch out for this weekend | Loop Samoa".
  9. ↑ Sina Sevaaetasi (27 September 2016). "Samoa A squad named". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  10. ↑ "Sport: Seven new caps in Manu Samoa squad". RNZ. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "Rugby Union - ESPN Scrum - Statsguru - Player analysis - Melani Matavao - Test matches". ESPN scrum.
  12. ↑ "Premier 1's – New recruit Melani Matavao selected for national honours". Harbour Rugby. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "Samoa step closer to Rugby World Cup qualification after routing Germany". Stuff. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "Two debutants in Samoa 7s squad for Vegas, Vancouver". Fiji Times. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  15. ↑ Thomas Airey (17 June 2019). "Vaili and Matavao star in their first Sevens Series campaigns". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  16. ↑ "Sport: Manu Samoa name two new caps in RWC squad". RNZ. August 31, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Matavao to make his comeback for Samoa at the LA 7s". Loop Samoa. 25 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  18. ↑ Sanerivi, Sialai Sarafina (2022-09-07). "Manu Samoa 7's team named for R.W.C. this weekend". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 2022-09-17.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.