Melani Matavao
Samoan rugby union and sevens player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Melani Matavao (born 19 November 1995) is a Samoan professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for the Samoa national team.[1]
| Born | 19 November 1995 Motoʻotua, Samoa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | St. Joseph's College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Club career
Matavao has come through Samoa's PPS Super 9 competition as a key player for the Aana Chiefs.[2] In 2018 he was given a place with Otago under World Rugby's Pacific Combine scheme,[3][4] playing 7 games in the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season.[5]
In 2019 he signed for the Asia Pacific Dragons,[6] but did not play any matches with the team.[7]
International career
In 2015 Matavao was selected for the Samoan Under 20 side for the U20 World Championship in Italy.[8] In 2016 he was selected for Samoa A.[9]
He was selected for the Samoan national team in 2017,[10] making his debut in a test against Scotland in Edinburgh.[11] He played for Samoa in the 2018 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup.[12] He was decisive in Samoa's qualification for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, scoring two tries in a qualifier against Germany.[13]
In February 2019 he was selected for the first time for the Samoa Sevens.[14][15] He was then named to Samoa's Rugby World Cup squad.[16] After the world cup, he played in the 2020 world sevens series.[17]
Matavao was selected for the Samoan squad to the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town.[18]
