Sakiusa Masinivanua (Masi) Matadigo (born 8 August 1982) is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

footballer who plays back row for

Montpellier Hérault RC Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people li ...

. He has been capped for the full Fiji national side, as well as representing Fiji at Sevens. Before moving to the

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

in 2007, he had played representative rugby for

Fiji Barbarians The Fiji Barbarians is a Fijian former rugby union representative team that played in the Pacific Rugby Cup from 2006 to 2010. The other Fijian team in the Cup was the Fiji Warriors. The players were drawn from the Fijian domestic competitions. Th ...

in the

Pacific Rugby Cup The World Rugby Pacific Challenge, formerly the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, is an annual rugby union football tournament held in Oceania since 2006. It is contested by national 'A' teams (formed from the best locally based players, with most not alre ...

and for Suva Highlanders in the

Colonial Cup Colonial Cup may refer to: * Colonial Cup (ice hockey), the trophy for the post-season champion of the International Hockey League. * Colonial Cup (rugby league), an international rugby league football challenge match played between the United Stat ...

. His senior rugby career began playing for Suva suburb Nabua, as well as the full Suva F.C. side. His regular playing positions are Number eight, Flanker and Lock.

Early life

Matadigo was born in

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Di ...

, Fiji on 8 August 1982 and educated at

Suva Grammar School Suva Grammar School (or SGS) is a secondary school in Suva, Fiji. The school caters 6 streams for Forms 3 to 6 and 4 streams for Form 7. Suva Grammar has a school population of approximately 1300 students. The school is in a location near the he ...

where, in 2001, his final year, he played at Number 8 in the side that won the school the Fiji secondary schools competition, the

Deans Trophy The Deans Trophy is the highest award in the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union. The annual competition was introduced in 1939 and is the oldest tournament in the Fiji rugby union. The trophy was first won by Queen Victoria School and the current c ...

for the first time in 62 years.

Playing career

Nabua/Suva 2002–07

Matadigo began his senior rugby career playing for the Nabua district of

while also playing for the colts division of the main Suva team. He made his senior debut for the Suva team in 2004. 2005 saw senior representative honours for Matadigo, first for Suva Highlanders in the

, which was to be a springboard to appearances in the famous Fiji Sevens side in the

IRB Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the co ...

. During the year he played in the

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

and George rounds of the

2005–06 World Sevens Series The 2005–06 World Sevens Series was the seventh edition of the global circuit for men's national rugby sevens teams, run by the International Rugby Board since 1999-2000. The series was won by Fiji in the last event of the competition, endin ...

. 2006 saw his elevation to full 15-a-side Fiji national team, making his debut against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

on 10 June 2006. The same year saw further involvement for Matadigo in the national Sevens sides campaign in the 2005–06 Sevens World Series, appearing at the

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) 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 second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

rounds of the tournament.

Stade Nantes 2006–07

In the 2006–07 Matadigo travelled to experience European rugby, initially with

Fédérale 3 Fédérale 3 is the seventh division of rugby union in France. The competition involves 226 clubs in 21 pools of 8, and winners can progress up into higher division of competition. The competition above Fédérale 3 is Fédérale 2 and above that, ...

side Stade Nantes Rugby.

Saracens 2007–08

Following a personal recommendation from former

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

and Fiji captain Simon Raiwalui, coach Alan Gaffney signed Matadigo, in time for the 2007–08 Guinness Premiership season. He was joined in the Saracens squad by former Flying Fijian captain

Mosese Rauluni Mosese Nasau Rauluni (born 26 June 1975) is a retired Fijian rugby union footballer. He usually plays at scrum half, and played for Saracens in the Guinness Premiership in England. He has played for Fiji, including captaining them. He is the you ...

and another full Fiji international Kameli Ratuvou upon these existing Saracens players' return from the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to ...

. Matadigo made his debut first team appearance for

against

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top division of domestic ...

on 6 October 2007. His second appearance, against

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the ...

two weeks later saw Matadigo score his maiden try for his new club.

Nabua/Suva 2008

Matadigo returned to Suva in 2008.

Montpellier 2009–present

In 2009, Matadigo joined

in France's

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 French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

Competition.

References

External links

Fiji Rugby profile

Saracens profile

Guinness Premiership profile

scrum.com Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matadigo, Sakiusa 1982 births Living people Rugby union flankers Fijian rugby union players Saracens F.C. players Montpellier Hérault Rugby players Lyon OU Rugby players Racing 92 players Fiji international rugby union players Fijian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in France Fijian expatriate sportspeople in England Fijian expatriate sportspeople in France Rugby union players from Suva I-Taukei Fijian people People educated at Suva Grammar School 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players