Mathieu Bastareaud (; born 17 September 1988) is a French former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. Originally a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, he played for RC Massy,

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

, and then eight seasons for

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

with whom he won three European Cups and a French Championship. In 2019, he moved to

Lyon Olympique Universitaire Lyon Olympique Universitaire Rugby or LOU is a French professional rugby union team based in Lyon that currently competes in the Top 14, the highest level of the country's professional league system, having been most recently promoted for the 20 ...

for one season, where he changed position to number 8. In 2020, he left for the United States where he played for Rugby United New York, before returning to Lyon. In 2022 he returned to Toulon, still as a number 8. He retired in 2023 and is now team manager of Toulon. Bastareaud represented France at Under 19 and Under 20 levels before winning the first of his 54 caps in 2009. He won the 2010 Six Nations tournament and played in the 2015 World Cup with France. He retired from international rugby in 2019.

Club career

Bastareaud played for Creteil Rugby youth squads and then moved to Massy. He went through the junior academy there and played for the third division club RC Massy. He attracted national attention and after two seasons he moved to

. He was included in the 2009 Six Nations Championship squad. He impressed in the match against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, which France won 21–16, on 27 February 2009, which was also his

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

debut. He later played against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and as a replacement against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the same competition. Matthieu was involved in the

2010 Six Nations Championship The 2010 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2010 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Championship and the 116th international championship, an annual rugby union competition b ...

and was a key figure for the French side. He scored two tries against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

. He was rested for the majority of the game against Italy but was brought on for the last 15 minutes. In July 2011 Bastareaud was finally allowed to join

. He had previously declared his wish to leave and with Stade Francais suffering major financial difficulties, (which saw them come close to being relegated) his wish was eventually granted. He signed a 3-year contract. In May 2013 he was named as man of the match as

won the 2013 Heineken Cup Final by 16–15 against Clermont Auvergne. Despite the presence of French international captain Guilhem Guirado in Toulon, Bastareaud was selected as captain for the 2017/18 season, with South African team-mate Duane Vermeulen struggling with injury. After being caught swearing at Benetton flanker Sebastian Negri in 2018, Bastareaud was suspended for three weeks. It was announced in April 2019 that Bastareaud would leave

after the 2018/19 season to join US side Rugby United New York in

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

. On 18 April 2020, Bastareaud returned to France to join

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

back in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

on a two-year contract beginning in the 2020–21 season. In 2022 he rejoined Toulon.

International career

Bastareaud was included in the French tour to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in June 2009, but returned to France early after sustaining facial injuries. He initially claimed that he had been assaulted from behind by "four or five men" outside his

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

hotel as he was returning from a night out. The New Zealand Police launched an investigation into the assault and turned up

security camera A closed-circuit television camera is a type of surveillance camera that transmits video signals to a specific set of monitors or video recording devices, rather than broadcasting the video over public airwaves. The term "closed-circuit televisi ...

footage of Bastareaud returning uninjured to his hotel with four other people at 5:22 am that night, confirming the assault could not have taken place. Bastareaud subsequently stated that he had been drunk and had sustained the injuries after tripping over a table in his hotel room, and that he had concocted the original story in order to avoid getting in trouble with team management. The incident proved to have diplomatic implications. Following the initial assault allegation, international media speculated on New Zealand's security and suitability as a tourist destination and host country , especially leading into the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

, spurring New Zealand Prime Minister

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016. Following his father's death when ...

to issue an official apology for the incident. Following the later revelations, French Prime Minister

François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of The Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

sent a letter to Key, in which he apologised for the unfortunate affair and spoke of the strong relationship between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and New Zealand, a rare official intervention in sporting issues for the French. Then on 29 June, '' L'Equipe'' reported that Bastareaud had been admitted to a psychiatric facility after attempting suicide. Pierre Camou, President of the

French Rugby Federation The French Rugby Federation (, ; FFR) is the governing body for rugby union in France. It is responsible for the French national team and the Ligue nationale de rugby that administers the country's professional leagues. History Before the FFR ...

has referred the case to their Disciplinary Committee and asked them to investigate. In 2010, Bastareaud was selected to the French Barbarians squad to play

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

on 26 November. Bastareaud started his first test in two years in 2017, against New Zealand in a 38–18 loss. Bastareaud had not made it onto the international field since he started in the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

quarter final, where the French lost to New Zealand 62–13. Bastareaud's two-year absence was cause by the fact that he had struggled with form loss and with injuries since the World Cup. Bastareaud missed the opening round of the 2018 Six Nations Championship due to suspension. He returned to international rugby on 23 February 2018 to start against Italy. Bastareaud had the final say in the fixture, scoring a try in the 73rd minute. His try was converted by François Trinh-Duc to make the final score against the Italians a 34–17 win, France's first international win in over 11 months. Bastareaud continued his return with good form and he ended up captaining France for the first time on 17 March 2018 during a 13–14 loss to Wales. On 19 June 2019, Bastareaud announced his retirement from international rugby after not being selected for France's Rugby World Cup warm-up matches.

Personal life

French international football player, William Gallas, is Bastareaud's cousin.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastareaud, Mathieu 1988 births Living people Rugby union number eights Rugby union centres Stade Français Paris players RC Toulon players Lyon OU Rugby players French people of Guadeloupean descent French rugby union players France international rugby union players Sportspeople from Créteil Rugby union players from Île-de-France Black French sportspeople RC Massy players Rugby New York players Expatriate rugby union players in the United States French expatriate sportspeople in the United States French expatriate rugby union players 2015 Rugby World Cup players 21st-century French sportsmen