Victor Matfield (born 11 May 1977) is a South African former professional

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. He played for and captained the

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national team (Springboks) as well as the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Bulls franchise in

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. He is generally considered one of the best

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s to have ever played for South Africa and had a long successful partnership with Springbok and Blue Bulls teammate Bakkies Botha. Matfield was known for his success at disrupting opposition line-outs – this skill was a cornerstone of their 2007 World Cup success, where he was crowned IRB (International Rugby Board) player of the Rugby World Cup. In 2008 he captained the first team to beat the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

in New Zealand since England in 2003. Matfield initially retired after the 2011 World Cup, leaving the game as the record Springbok cap holder, but returned after a two-year hiatus, signing a two-year playing contract with the Bulls for 2014 and 2015.

Early life

Born on 11 May 1977 in Pietersburg (now Polokwane), South Africa, Matfield grew up with a love for both rugby and cricket, and even represented Far North Schools in the latter. When an injury affected his batting and bowling he decided to pursue rugby instead and was selected for Far North's junior Craven Week team before playing lock for Hoërskool Pietersburg. He made it to the Craven Week competition for high schools in two successive years.

Junior rugby career

After school, Matfield went to study at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

where he made the university's under-21 side. It did not take long for him to be selected for the Blue Bulls under-21 side as well. In 1997, Matfield was selected for the under-21 Springbok side captained by Bobby Skinstad. Matfield was also selected for the 1998 squad.

Senior rugby career

A big turning point in Matfield's career came when he decided to leave the Blue Bulls for the Griquas in 1999, where he was also selected to represent the

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in the Super 12 that year. The move allowed him to prove his worth, and in 2000 he was given the opportunity to represent the Bulls Super 12 team. His hard work did not go unnoticed, and in 2001 he was finally selected for the Springbok squad, making his debut on 30 June 2001 against

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. Matfield went on to help the Springboks' renaissance in 2004 and 2005; in the latter year, he made the five-man shortlist for IRB World Player of the Year. Matfield was an instant selection for South Africa's 2007 World Cup winning-squad, and won the Man of the Match award in the final for his brilliant work in the line-out. Matfield had been linked with a move to Leicester Tigers of the English Premiership after the 2007 Rugby World Cup., but later signed a six-month contract with French second division club

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 ...

, beginning in January 2008. At Toulon, he joined an ambitious side whose president Mourad Boudjellai signed many veteran superstars for the 2007–2008 season, such as n George Gregan, the sport's all-time leader in international appearances; Andrew Mehrtens, the all-time leading scorer for the

; and, as coach, former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga. Super 14 LineOut Bulls

Between January and February 2008, Matfield played for Toulon in a stretch of nine key matches, before returning to South Africa and taking part in the 2008 Super 14 season with the Bulls. It was reported his decision to return was due to the

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having reconsidered to continue with its policy of allowing a limited number of overseas-based players to play for the Springboks. In 2014, Matfield returned to rugby as a player, signing a 2-year playing contract with the Bulls to keep him in the game until the end of 2015. At the

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Matfield started in the first 2 group games for South Africa. The Springboks advanced to the knock out stages, with Matfield coming on from the bench in their semi final loss to

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. Matfield's final international game was a 24–13 victory in the third place playoff against

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where he again came on as a second-half substitute. In 2015 it was announced that Matfield would sign for Northampton Saints after the

. Matfield played for Northampton for one season before ending his 21-year career in a game against Gloucester Rugby.

Accolades

Over the course of his career, Matfield has won the Currie Cup final three times (2002, 2004 & 2009), the Super 14 title in 2007, 2009 and 2010, the Tri-Nations in 2004 and 2009 and the Rugby World Cup in 2007. In 2008 he was inducted into the

Hall of fame.

Commentator and coach

Matfield retired from the Springboks after the 2015 World Cup, and considered a coaching career in Australia with the NSW Waratahs. He subsequently joined SuperSport as a TV presenter for the Super Rugby season. He was also part of the coaching team and served as a line-out consultant for the Blue Bulls provincial rugby team in 2013.

Honours

* 2002, 2004, 2009 Currie Cup winner ( Blue Bulls) * 2007, 2009, 2010

winner ( Bulls) * 2004, 2009 Tri-Nations winner * 2007 Rugby World Cup winner * 2009 British and Irish Lions test series winner

Notes

References

External links

* French articles * *
Springbok Rugby Hall of Fame profile
* ttp://www.rctoulon.com RC Toulon {{DEFAULTSORT:Matfield, Victor 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Polokwane South African people of British descent Rugby union locks South African rugby union coaches South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Bulls (rugby union) players Blue Bulls players Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Griquas (rugby union) players Northampton Saints players University of Pretoria alumni RC Toulon players South African expatriate rugby union players in France Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union players from Limpopo 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players South African expatriate rugby union players in England South Africa national rugby union team captains 21st-century South African sportsmen