Victor Matfield
Encyclopedia
Victor Matfield is a South African rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player. He has played for, and captained
South African rugby union captains
Every player to captain the South Africa national rugby union team in a test match are listed here. Captains are listed in chronological order of their first match as captain.-Male:...

 the Springbok
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

 rugby team as well as the Blue Bulls
Blue Bulls
The Blue Bulls, for sponsorship reasons known as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, or more popularly by their Afrikaans name die Blou Bulle, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament...

 in the Currie Cup
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup tournament is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring , featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces...

 and the Bulls franchise in the Super 14
Super 14
Super Rugby is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere...

. He is generally considered one of the best locks in the world and has had a long successful partnership with Springbok and Blue Bulls teammate Bakkies Botha
Bakkies Botha
John Philip "Bakkies" Botha, is a South African rugby union player who plays lock for the Springboks. He was a member of the national team that won the Rugby World Cup in 2007 in addition to winning two Tri-Nations titles in 2004 and 2009...

.

Besides almost always winning his own line-out ball, Matfield is known for his exceptional skill at disrupting opposition line-out
Line-out
A line-out is the means by which, in rugby union, the ball is put back into play after it has gone into touch. It is the equivalent of the throw-in in soccer. Rugby league abolished line-outs in 1897...

s – 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 – and his speed around the field led former Australian
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 coach Eddie Jones
Eddie Jones (rugby)
Eddie Jones is a rugby union coach and former player.-Coaching career:...

 to comment that he should be an Olympic sprinter instead. He also possesses good upper body strength, with the ability to bench press 155 kg. In 2008 he became the first international captain to beat the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 in New Zealand since Martin Johnson in 2003. Matfield retired after the 2011 World Cup after an impressive career, leaving the game as the record springbok cap holder.

Youth

Growing up Matfield had 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 Norths junior Craven Week
Craven Week
The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven....

 team before playing lock for Pietersburg High School. He made it to the Craven Week competition for high schools in two successive years before being selected for Far North's senior provincial team while still in his final year of high school.

Junior rugby career

After school, Matfield went to study at the University of Pretoria
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria is a multi campus public research university located in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa...

 where he made the university's under-21 side. It did not take long for him to be selected for the Blue Bulls
Blue Bulls
The Blue Bulls, for sponsorship reasons known as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, or more popularly by their Afrikaans name die Blou Bulle, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament...

 under-21 side as well.

In 1997, Matfield was selected for the under-21 Springbok side captained by Bobby Skinstad
Bobby Skinstad
Robert Brian Skinstad is a Zimbabwean-born South African rugby union player who has represented the national team, the Springboks, 42 times, scoring 55 points . He played in the positions of flanker and number eight...

. 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
Wildeklawer Griquas
The GWK Griquas are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. Their home ground is Hoffe Park Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as GWK Park in Kimberley, and they draw their players from Northern Cape Province. They were previously known as...

 in 1999, where he was also selected to represent the Cats 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 Italy
Italy national rugby union team
The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...

. Matfield went on to help the Springboks' renaissance in 2004 and 2005; in the latter year, he made the five-man shortlist for IRB
International Rugby Board
The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...

 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 and, in a show of fine all-round skill, he even put in a perfect cross-field touch-finding kick!

Matfield had been linked with a move to Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...

 of the English Premiership
Guinness Premiership
The English Premiership, also currently known as the Aviva Premiership because of the league's sponsorship by Aviva, is a professional league competition for rugby union football clubs in the top division of the English rugby system. There are twelve clubs in the Premiership...

 after the 2007 Rugby World Cup
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 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

. However, in June 2007, he signed a six-month contract with French second division
Rugby Pro D2
Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second level of domestic club rugby union in France, below the first division, Top 14. The competition was introduced in 2000. There is relegation and promotion between both the Top 14 and Fédérale 1, the third-level competition...

 club Toulon
RC Toulonnais
RC Toulonnais is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

, which he will join on 1 January 2008. At Toulon, he will join an ambitious side whose president Mourad Boudjellai has signed many veteran superstars for the 2007–08 season, such as n George Gregan
George Gregan
George Musarurwa Gregan AM is an Australian rugby union halfback who has made more appearances for his national team than any other player in the sport's history....

, the sport's all-time leader in international appearances; Andrew Mehrtens
Andrew Mehrtens
Andrew Philip Mehrtens MNZM is a New Zealand rugby union footballer, currently playing in France for Béziers, a club in the third-level Fédérale 1 league...

, the all-time leading scorer for the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

; and, as coach, former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga
Tana Umaga
Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa "Tana" Umaga, ONZM is a New Zealand rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. He played for the Hurricanes starting with the Super 12's inception in 1996 and took over the captaincy in 2003...

.

It had recently been revealed that Matfield was considering withdrawing from his contract with Toulon in an attempt to make himself available for a possible offer from The Sharks for the 2008 Super 14
2008 Super 14 season
The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' home fans. The 2008 season was the third of the expansion,...

. Eventually, he and Umaga came to an agreement that Matfield would play for Toulon in a stretch of nine key fixtures in January and February 2008, and then return to South Africa and play for the Bulls in the 2008 Super 14. Toulon are currently making a strong drive for promotion to the Top 14, and are atop the 2007–08 second division table
2007-08 Rugby Pro D2 season
The 2007-08 Rugby Pro D2 was a French rugby union club competition. The season ran alongside the 2007-08 Top 14 competition, which is the highest club competition. Both competitions were operated by the Ligue nationale de rugby ....

 as of 6 March 2008. As for Matfield, his main concern was reported to be that the South African Rugby Union
South African Rugby Union
The South African Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to the International Rugby Board...

 has not yet decided whether to continue with its recent policy of allowing a limited number of overseas-based players to play for the Springboks.

Matfield has won the Currie Cup final three times ('02, '04 & '09 having been on World Cup duty in '03 when Bulls won and withdrawn from Currie Cup action in '06 by the then Springbok coach Jake White when the Bulls shared the cup), the Super 14 title in 2007, 2009 and 2010, the Tri-Nations in 2004 and 2009 and the Rugby World Cup in 2007. Matfield may retire from the Springboks after the 2011 World Cup, and has intimated he would consider a coaching career in Australia, perhaps with the NSW Waratahs
New South Wales Waratahs
The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...

.

Personal life

Matfield married Monja Bekker on 12 December 2003. They have two daughters; Jaime, born on New Year's Day 2006, and Giselle, born on 14 April 2009.

Honours

  • 2002, 04, 09 Currie Cup winner (Blue Bulls
    Blue Bulls
    The Blue Bulls, for sponsorship reasons known as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, or more popularly by their Afrikaans name die Blou Bulle, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament...

    )
  • 2007, 09, 10 Superrugby winner (Bulls)
  • 2004, 09 Tri-Nations winner (Springboks)
  • 2007 Rugby World Cup
    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 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

     winner
  • 2011 Rugby World Cup
    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 International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...



External links

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