Matthew Proudfoot (born 30 January 1972) is a South African rugby union coach and former player who represented

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 ...

. He was the head coach of the

Leopards The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

until May 2025. He was an assistant coach with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, winning the 2019 World Cup. In January 2020 he became forwards coach for

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 left at the end of 2022. He had a coaching spell at Stellenbosch University before joining Namibia as their forwards coach for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. He played for

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

and

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...

, and won four caps for Scotland between 1998 and 2003.

Playing career

Hy played for DF Malan. Proudfoot played in the Vodacom Cup and then the Currie Cup for the

after which he moved to Scotland to play for

Melrose Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett R ...

. Proudfoot then played for

. He won 3 international caps while with Edinburgh, before returning to South Africa. Injury forced him into semi-retirement but he still played for the Leopards and the Blue Bulls. Glasgow Warriors coach

Hugh Campbell Hugh Thomas Campbell (born May 21, 1941) is an American former professional football player, coach, and executive. He served as a head coach in three different football leagues: the Canadian Football League (CFL), United States Football League ...

persuaded him to return to full-time Scottish professional rugby. In 2003 he returned to Scotland to play for

. He won 1 more international cap while with the Warriors.

International

He qualified for Scotland through his Dumfries grandfather. He made his debut for

in 1998 against Fiji. He was capped 4 times for the national team finishing with a cap against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 2003.

Coaching career

Proudfoot coached the forwards at

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...

North-West University The North-West University (NWU) is a public research university located on three campuses in Potchefstroom, Mahikeng and Vanderbijlpark in South Africa. The university came into existence through the merger in 2004 of the Potchefstroom Univer ...

and

Kobelco Steelers The Kobelco Kobe Steelers are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kobe Steel, and based in Kobe. They were the first ever Top League champions when the League started in the 2003-2004 season. The team rebranded as Kobelco Kobe Steelers ahead of ...

in Japan. In May 2016 Proudfoot became an assistant coach with

where he contributed to the Springboks winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup. In January 2020 Proudfoot joined

as forwards coach ahead of the 2020 Six Nations. He was appointed head coach of the

in February 2024, until his replacement in May 2025.

References

External links

Glasgow Warriors Profile
1972 births Living people Edinburgh Rugby players Glasgow Warriors players Melrose RFC players Rugby union players from Klerksdorp Scotland A international rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union coaches Scottish rugby union players South African people of Scottish descent Rugby union props {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-1970s-stub