Pablo Matera
Matera representing Leicester Tigers during the LV Cup
Full namePablo Nicolás Matera
Date of birth (1993-07-18) 18 July 1993
Place of birthBuenos Aires, Argentina
Height1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight111 kg (245 lb; 17 st 7 lb)
SchoolSt. Catherine's Moorlands School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker, Number 8
Current team Mie Honda Heat
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2012–2013 Alumni 3 (5)
2013–2015 Pampas XV 3 (5)
2013–2014 Leicester Tigers 8 (10)
2016–2019 Jaguares 52 (55)
2019–2021 Stade Français 25 (10)
2022 Crusaders 14 (5)
2022– Mie Honda Heat 12 (20)
Correct as of 28 August 2023
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2012–2013 Argentina U20 10 (20)
2013– Argentina 95 (50)
Correct as of 28 August 2023
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
2012 Argentina 2
Correct as of 28 August 2023

Pablo Nicolás Matera (born 18 July 1993) is an Argentine professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Japan Rugby League One club Mie Honda Heat and the Argentina national team.[1]

Previously, he played for Stade Français of the Top 14 League, the Leicester Tigers in England, the Pampas XV in the South African Vodacom Cup, and the Jaguares of Super Rugby.[2][3][4] Matera has been a regular starter for Argentina since his debut in 2013, having played over 50 tests for his national team.

Club career

In October 2013, five months after his international debut, English Premiership side Leicester Tigers signed 20-year-old Matera until the end of the 2013–14 season.[5] He initially signed as an injury replacement for Tom Croft. Matera scored his first try for the club in round 16 of the 2013–14 season against the Newcastle Falcons in an 18–41 victory at Kingston Park, Newcastle.[6]

Matera signed for the Jaguares Argentina players, ahead of the 2016 Super Rugby season, after their inclusion in the competition. Matera received a yellow card thirty three minutes into the game against the Sharks at Kings Park Stadium in Durban.[7] Matera scored his first and only try of the season in their fifth home game in round 15 against the Bulls, a 29–11 victory at the José Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires.[8]

Matera scored his first and only try for the Jaguares in the 2017 season against the Waratahs in a 27–40 away win at Allianz Stadium in Sydney.[9]

Matera was named as captain of the Jaguares ahead of the 2018 season.[10]

Matera joined Stade in 2019.

International career

Matera represented Argentina U20 in the 2012 and 2013 U20 World Championships.[11]

Matera made his senior debut for Los Pumas against Chile in May 2013 and was subsequently named in the squad for the 2013 Rugby Championship, where he featured in all the games of that campaign.[12][13] Matera was a big feature for Argentina in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, playing six of seven games for Los Pumas and helping them finish fourth overall.

Matera played his 50th test for Los Pumas on 18 August 2018 against South Africa during round one on the 2018 Rugby Championship. The test was a 21–34 loss for Los Pumas, who bounced back to beat South Africa the following week. Despite Matera's good performances against South Africa, new head coach Mario Ledesma went on to bench Matera for the 8 September clash against New Zealand.

Matera was the Captain of the Argentina national team, which on 14 November 2020 had their first ever win against the All Blacks.[14]

On 30 November 2020, Matera was temporarily stripped of his captaincy and suspended from the national team.[15]

Personal life

Controversies

In November 2020, Los Pumas were criticised for not properly honouring the death of Diego Maradona[16] in the game against the All Blacks, three days after his death.[17] In the following days, several Twitter users found and shared racist messages published by Matera in his account.[18] Matera's Twitter posts were made between seven and nine years earlier, when he was a teenager. In response, Matera deleted his social media accounts.[19] He has since publicly apologised.

Both the Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas (DAIA) and the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) heavily condemned Matera’s tweets.[20][21]

Career statistics

List of international tries

As of 9 August 2022[22]

Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score
1  Chile Montevideo, Uruguay Estadio Charrua 2013 South American Rugby Championship "A" 1 May 2013 Win 85 – 10
2  Brazil Montevideo, Uruguay Estadio Charrua 2013 South American Rugby Championship "A" 4 May 2013 Win 83 – 10
3  England Santa Fe, Argentina Estadio Brigadier Estanislao López 2017 June rugby union tests 17 June 2017 Loss 25 – 35
4  South Africa Durban, South Africa Kings Park Stadium 2018 Rugby Championship 18 August 2018 Loss 34 – 21
5  Australia Salta, Argentina Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena 2018 Rugby Championship 6 October 2018 Loss 34 – 45
6  South Africa Pretoria, South Africa Loftus Versfeld Stadium 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches 17 August 2019 Loss 24 – 18
7  Wales Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium 2021 July rugby union tests 10 July 2021 Draw 20 – 20
8  Wales Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium 2021 July rugby union tests 17 July 2021 Win 11 – 33
9  South Africa Port Elizabeth, South Africa Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium 2021 Rugby Championship 21 August 2021 Loss 29 – 10
10  Australia Mendoza, Argentina Estadio Malvinas Argentinas 2022 Rugby Championship 6 August 2022 Loss 26 – 41

Club summary

SeasonTeamGamesStartsSubMinsTriesConsPensDropsPointsYelRed
2016Jaguares111017481000520
2017111117751000510
20185503860000000
Total272621,90920001030

References

  1. ↑ 一般社団法人ジャパンラグビーリーグワン. "Matera Pablo （2022-23） | JAPAN RUGBY LEAGUE ONE OFFICIAL SITE". 【公式】NTTジャパンラグビー リーグワン (in Japanese). Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  2. ↑ "Pablo Matera Argentina Rugby Player Profile". UAR. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  3. ↑ "Pablo Matera ESPN Scrum Player Profile". ESPN. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Pablo Matera itsrugby.co.uk Player Statistics". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Pablo Matera: Leicester Tigers sign Argentine flanker". BBC Sport. 8 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "Newcastle Falcons 18 Leicester Tigers 41". PremiershipRugby.com. 2 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Sharks beat gritty Jaguares". Sanzar. 6 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  8. ↑ "Wet weather win for Jaguares". Sanzar. 3 July 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  9. ↑ "Jaguares get the better of Waratahs". Sanzar. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  10. ↑ "Pablo Matera es el nuevo capitán de Jaguares". ESPN (in Spanish). 26 January 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  11. ↑ "Pablo Matera IRB JWC Player Profile". IRB. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  12. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa 73–13 Argentina". South African Rugby Union. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Argentina 17–22 South Africa". South African Rugby Union. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  14. ↑ "Argentina (16) 25 - 15 (3) New Zealand (FT)". ESPN. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  15. ↑ "Comunicado oficial". December 2020.
  16. ↑ ""Duras críticas a Los Pumas porque no homenajearon a Maradona en el partido con los All Blacks"". 28 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  17. ↑ ""Murió Diego Armando Maradona y ya es leyenda"". 25 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  18. ↑ """Salir a pisar negros": los mensajes discriminadores y racistas del capitán de Los Pumas"". 30 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  19. ↑ Matera deletes his social media after controversial old tweets are revealed
  20. ↑ Frente a la difusión de los tweets misóginos, xenófobos y antisemitas publicados en el pasado por el capitán de Los Pumas, Pablo Matera, que se han viralizado en el día de la fecha, la DAIA expresa su rechazo
  21. ↑ Es hora de terminar con el racismo y la discriminación en el deporte
  22. ↑ "Pablo MATERA profile and stats". all.rugby. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.