Albert Samuel "Alby" Mathewson (born 13 December 1985) is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays as a scrum-half.

Early life and education

Mathewson was born in

Hastings, New Zealand Hastings (; mi, Heretaunga) is an inland city of New Zealand and is one of the two major urban areas in Hawke's Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. The population of Hastings (including Flaxmere) is (as of with a further people in H ...

. He first attended

Havelock North High School Havelock North High School is a state co-education secondary school located in Havelock North, New Zealand. HNHS has a head boy and head girl chosen by the Form 7 (Year 13) students at the start of the year as well as the secretary. HNHS is spl ...

but switched to

Hastings Boys' High School Hastings Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hastings, New Zealand. The school is part of the Super 8. The school was founded in 1904 as Hastings High School. In 1922, it became Hastings Technical School under the leadership of Wi ...

to improve his game. He studied at Victoria University after finishing his schooling.

Rugby

Mathewson made his

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

debut in 2006 and

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

debut in 2007, before shifting to the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

in 2010. Mathewson made his international debut for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 2010. In 2012, Mathewson signed a two-year contract with the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. ...

in Australia, which he extended until 2016 two years later. Mathewson joined Irish side

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

, who play in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and Champions Cup and have a history of playing New Zealand, on a four-month short-term contract in August 2018. Mathewson, who played against Munster for

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

during the 2017–18 season and also played for New Zealand against Munster in November 2008, was signed as injury-cover for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

international

Conor Murray Conor Murray (born 20 April 1989) is an Irish rugby union player who plays for Munster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup. Internationally, Murray has represented Ireland and the British & Irish Lions, whom he ...

, who had been ruled out for a short period with a neck injury. Mathewson made his debut for Munster on 29 September 2018, starting their

2018–19 Pro14 The 2018–19 Pro14 (also known as the '' Guinness Pro14'' for sponsorship reasons) is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the ''Pr ...

fixture against provincial rivals

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

Thomond Park Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and has Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park fr ...

, which Munster won 64–7. He scored his first try for Munster in the provinces 30–22 defeat at the hands of

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

on 6 October 2018. He signed a three-month contract extension with Munster in November 2018. Mathewson's contract with Munster was again extended in February 2019, this time until the end of the 2018–19 season, before again being extended until the end of November 2019 to provide

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

cover. His last appearance for Munster was in their 21–21 draw against French side

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to ...

in round two of the 2019–20 Champions Cup on 23 November 2019. He joined Munster's provincial rivals

on a one-year contract in July 2020, and made his debut for the province in their 26–20 defeat against

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

on 23 August 2020. Mathewson was released by Ulster at the end of the 2020–21 season. He joined Australian

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

side

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competition ...

on a short-term contract as injury cover for

Tate McDermott Tate McDermott (born 18 September 1998) is an Australian rugby union player who plays for the Australian national rugby union team internationally and the in the Super Rugby competition. His position of choice is scrum-half. In 2017, McDe ...

in March 2022.

Personal life

Mathewson and his wife, Cara Mathewson, have two sons together. The oldest was born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 2010. At the time Mathewson was training with the All Blacks. Their youngest was born in Perth, Australia in 2015.

Super Rugby Statistics

References

External links

Munster ProfileUlster ProfileWestern Force Player Profile
*
Pro14 Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathewson, Alby 1985 births Living people People educated at Hastings Boys' High School Rugby union players from Hastings, New Zealand Rugby union scrum-halves New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Wellington rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Western Force players Auckland rugby union players Hawke's Bay rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Bristol Bears players King Country rugby union players RC Toulonnais players Munster Rugby players Ulster Rugby players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players