Matthew Giteau – Player Profile
Matthew Giteau is a rugby player with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU). He has played at the positions of fly-back, halfback and inside centre for various rugby teams like the Brumbies, Australia, Western Force and Canberra Vikings.
Popularly known as Matt Giteau, he was born in September 1982 in Sydney, Australia. He attended the St Edmunds College in Canberra and played rugby there until finally starting his professional career in 2002. He joined the Australian team, the Wallabies,
in his inaugural match against England at Twickenham. Here he was a 20-year-old playing for the Australian national team. The same year he joined the Brumbies for a contract of one year. This was then further extended for three more years.
In 2003, Giteau played his first international game with the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2003. He scored three successive tries during his matches. Although the Wallabies lost the final to England, his performances at the RWC games earned him
a nomination for the International Rugby Board (IRB) Player of the Year Award of 2004. Also, under the Brumbies team he managed to make it in the Super Rugby final victory of 47-38 against the Crusaders.
His efforts so far have earned him the title of one of the five best players of the world. He made several appearances in Tests during the 2005 season but an injury prevented him from even making it to three of the 2006 season’s Test matches. However, the
recovery was possible for him in time to claim a Man of the Match title by helping defeat South Africa’s Springboks in the Tri-Nations of 2006.
In 2007 he was deemed fit to participate in the RWC. Playing here as an inside centre he made his 50th international cap. The same year he signed on with the Western Force for the rest of the 2007 season. This deal with the Force earned him a
large salary and as a result the media naming him the “Six Million Dollars Man”.
He played under the Force umbrella in the Super 14 and earned them a seventh place at the Super 14 Tables. They had previously been the lowest team on the charts. The player and fly-half, Giteau helped the Force obtain the eighth position in 2008 Super Rugby.
In March 2008 Giteau, initially in talks to move from the Western Force, re-signed with the Brumbies and the Australian Rugby Union for two more years. The deal asked him to play under the Brumbies and in the RWC 2011. He stayed with the Australian union
team Brumbies for another year and finally in 2009 moved back to the Wallabies.
Under the coach Robbie Deans he obtained the award for Outstanding Player, as he joined the team for the 2009 Tri-Nations and several Test matches. The 2010 season was not good for the player. In the Super 14 Giteau was sidelined in favour of Quade Cooper’s
performance in his recent match for the Queensland Reds. Cooper’s play put Giteau in the centre position and was only kept on due to his excellent kicking technique. Giteau’s playing was also condemned during the matches, his performance being termed as flawed.
Finally after his dismal 2010 performance, he decided to leave the Wallabies and the Australian union after completing his contract and playing in the RWC 2011.
Rugby playing is in his blood as his father and sister have also played rugby; his father at the local level and his sister at the international level. He himself played rugby league and union during his school years. Now, after the RWC 2011, Giteau also
known as the Kid Dynamite, will join the French rugby union team Toulon in the Top 14 tournament.
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