Matthew James Giteau (born 29 September 1982)
Giteau plays as a utility back. His usual positions are inside centre and fly-half, although he started his career as a scrum-half. He played for the Wallabies for the first time in 2002 against England at Twickenham and was a nominee for the International Rugby Board Player of the Year in 2004.
Personal life
Giteau attended St Edmund's College, Canberra,
which has produced other Wallabies including
George Gregan,
Matt Henjak and
Ricky Stuart.
His father, Ron Giteau, is a former professional rugby league footballer, and his older sister Kristy Giteau is a dual-code rugby international for Australia. On 11 December 2010, Matt Giteau married Bianca Giteau, a former netball player with the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
Playing career
2001–05
Giteau made his debut for the
ACT Brumbies in 2001 and the Wallabies in 2002. During this time he won two
Super Rugby titles with the Brumbies in the 2001 Super 12 season and the 2004 Super 12 season and was a part of the Wallabies at the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
2006–07
In April 2006 Giteau announced that he would play for the
Western Force Super Rugby team, in the 2007 Super 14 season. He was included in the Wallabies 2006 mid-year rugby tests squad, but was ruled out with an injury. However, he recovered in time for the 2006 Tri Nations Series. He came off the bench in the first game in the series.
In 2007, Giteau was selected for the Wallabies 2007 Rugby World Cup and 2008 squad and was first choice No. 12. He had also scored 40 test points, putting him in the top scorer's list in the competition. Giteau took injuries into the match, and the Wallabies lost in the quarter-final to England 10–12.
Following the Rugby World Cup, Giteau played fly-half for the Barbarians against Rugby World Cup winners South Africa. Giteau scored a try, and the Barbarians won 22–5.
2008
In 2008, new Wallabies coach
Robbie Deans selected Giteau as Australia's new fly-half, following the retirement of
Stephen Larkham.
Giteau played fly-half against Ireland and France in the mid-year Test. In the 2008 Tri Nations Series, Giteau played in all six games. He played against the All Blacks winning 34–22 at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, and against South Africa winning 27–15 at Kings Park Stadium in Durban.
Giteau was also a part of the Wallabies' record loss that following week to South Africa 53–8.
Super Rugby
Giteau played for the
Western Force for 2007–09. In 2007 the Force finished seventh, and recorded their first home win (17–18 against the Hurricanes).
In 2010 Giteau returned to Canberra and the Brumbies, where he played for 2010 and 2011.
Move to France
During the 2011 Super Rugby season, Giteau signed with the French club
RC Toulonnais, a move that would take effect after the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Despite not being selected for the Australian World Cup squad, he could not join Toulon until mid-November, as he was still under contract with the Australian Rugby Union through the World Cup.
In May 2013 he started as
RC Toulonnais won the 2013 Heineken Cup Final by 16–15 against Clermont Auvergne. He won three European titles with Toulon starting all three. In 2015 they won three successive European titles, (2013 vs Clermont 16–15, 2014 vs Saracens 23–6, and 2015 vs Clermont 24–18). He also won the Top 14 in 2014.
2015
In 2015, national coach
Michael Cheika negotiated with the Australian Rugby Union to allow players with 60 caps or more eligible to represent the Wallabies despite not playing in the
Super Rugby known as Giteau's law. Giteau played against the
Springboks winning 24–20 at
Suncorp Stadium, and against the
All Blacks 27–19 at
ANZ Stadium. Giteau was selected in the Wallabies 31-man squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In October, during the tournament, Giteau scored his 30th international try for the Wallabies as part of their win against England, knocking them out of the tournament. Giteau was a key player for the Wallabies in reaching the Rugby World Cup final, but he copped a head knock in the opening stages of the final and was ruled out of the remainder of the match, which the Wallabies lost to the
All Blacks 17–34.
Top League
In March 2017, Giteau announced that he would spend his last season with Toulon as a player-coach. On 15 May 2017, Giteau confirmed his move to Japan with Suntory Sungoliath in the
Top League next season.
Major League Rugby
In March 2021 Giteau joined his former Australia teammate, Adam Ashley-Cooper at the
LA Giltinis for the 2021 Major League Rugby season.
In August 2021, Giteau played his last professional game of rugby union after a man of the match performance in the Giltini's MLR shield win against Rugby ATL.
In late 2023, on his podcast, Kick Offs and Kick Ons, Giteau announced that he would come out of retirement to join the San Diego Legion for the 2024 MLR season.
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