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Tabai Matson

Matson in 2015
Birth name	John Tabaiwalu Fakavale Matson
Date of birth	(1973-05-14) 14 May 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth	Nausori Highlands, Fiji
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	104 kg (16 st 5 lb; 229 lb)
School	Christ's College
University	Lincoln University
Occupation(s)	Professional Rugby Coach
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1998–2000 CA Brive () 2000–01 London Irish () 2001–06 Yamaha Júbilo () Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1994–97 Canterbury 56 (145) Super Rugby Years Team Apps (Points) 1996–98 Crusaders 25 (30) International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1995–96 New Zealand 5 (0) 1999 Fiji 2 (0) Coaching career Years Team 2005–06 Yamaha Júbilo 2006 University of Queensland (Assistant) 2007–08 Gold Coast Breakers 2009–11 Canterbury (Assistant) 2012 Canterbury Head Coach 2013–2016 Crusaders (Assistant) 2015 Fiji (Attack) 2016–2017 Bath 2018–2021 Chiefs (Assistant) 2021–2024 Harlequins 2024– Black Rams Tokyo

John Tabaiwalu Fakavale Matson (born 14 May 1973) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and a former New Zealand and Fiji rugby union representative. He is currently head coach at Japan Rugby League One side Black Rams Tokyo.

Education

Matson attended Nelson College from 1985 to 1986, before completing his secondary education at Christ's College in Christchurch.

Playing career

A centre, Matson represented Canterbury at a provincial level and the Crusaders in Super Rugby. He was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, in 1995 and 1996, playing 5 matches but no internationals. He played two matches for Fiji at the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

Coaching career

Matson formally played and coached Yamaha Júbilo in his final three seasons for the club. He went on to become assistant coach and player at the University of Queensland before becoming head coach of the Gold Coast Breakers in 2007.

In 2009, he helped to revive the senior rugby programme of the oldest rugby club on the Gold Coast, the Gold Coast Eagles, as the Director of Rugby and head coach of the first grade team. That team went on to win the Gold Coast and District Rugby Union senior club competition (in his absence as he joined Canterbury as an assistant near the end of the season).

He returned to New Zealand in 2009 as Canterbury assistant coach, before being promoted to head coach in 2012. He led Canterbury to their fifth consecutive ITM Cup title by winning the 2012 ITM Cup.

In 2012 he was hired by the Brazil Rugby Federation as a consultant as they began their journey towards the 2016 Rio Olympics. He was focused on staging a training camp for the National Men's 15-a-side team and the Women's 7's team.

Matson was also the first non-Māori to coach the Māori All Blacks, assisting Head Coach Colin Cooper from 2013 to 2015.

After coaching the Māori All Blacks in their test victory against the Flying Fijians in June 2015, he joined Fiji's coaching staff from the Pacific Nations Cup in Vancouver – which they went on to win – through to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Matson was an assistant coach for the 3 years for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition. He has held both Attack and Defence roles for them during his time and is a specialist backs coach. His departure was announced in September 2020.

He joined Premiership Rugby side Harlequins as a senior coach ahead of the 2021–22 season. The previous season the club had won the league title. That season, he guided them to the semi-final playoff for the league campaign, losing to Saracens away in the semi-final playoff. The following season they finished sixth. After two seasons, he left his coaching role at the club to become performance director overseeing both the men's and women's sides. In March 2023, it was announced he would depart the club at the end of the 2023-24 season.

In August 2024, following his stint at Harlequins he joined Japan Rugby League One side Black Rams Tokyo as head coach.

References

1. Raisey, Josh. "Tabai Matson lands new head coach role after Harlequins exit". RugbyPass. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
2. "Rugby". The Bulletin. Nelson College: 11. December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
3. ^ "Tabai Matson All Blacks profile". allblacks.com.
4. "Tabai Matson". International High Performance Unit. Canterbury Rugby Football Union. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
5. "New role, same philosophy for Matson: Win". Stuff NZ. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
6. "Gold Coast Eagles Team of the Decade selections revealed". Gold Coast Bulletin. 17 December 2019. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
7. "Rugby: Matson named as Canterbury coach". New Zealand Herald. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
8. "Canterbury make it five in a row". allblacks.com. 27 October 2012. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
9. "Brazil tours New Zealand on Olympic rugby mission - China.org.cn". china.org.cn. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
10. "Colin Cooper appointed Head Coach of Maori All Blacks". allblacks.com (Press release). 23 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
11. "Fiji beat Samoa to win thrilling Pacific Nations Cup final". Rugbydump. 5 August 2015.
12. "Tabai Matson to be part of the Flying Fijians during the Rugby World Cup". Fiji One. 5 June 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
13. "Chiefs part ways with Tabai Matson in Super Rugby coaching reshuffle". 12 September 2020.
14. "Tabai Matson to join coaching team ahead of new season". www.quins.co.uk (Press release). 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
15. "Tabai Matson: Former Harlequins senior coach to leave at end of the season". BBC. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
16. "Harlequins: Billy Millard named director of rugby as Tabai Matson leaves head coach role". www.bbc.com. 14 June 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
17. Raisey, Josh. "Tabai Matson lands new head coach role after Harlequins exit". RugbyPass. Retrieved 9 December 2024.

• 1973 births
• Living people
• People educated at Nelson College
• People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch
• New Zealand rugby union coaches
• New Zealand rugby union players
• New Zealand international rugby union players
• Fiji international rugby union players
• New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England
• 1999 Rugby World Cup players
• Rugby union centres
• Crusaders (rugby union) players
• CA Brive players
• New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France