Hawea Karepa Mataira (3 December 1910 – 15 November 1979) was a dual-code

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

player who represented New Zealand in both

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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

Rugby union career

Mataira made his first class debut in 1931 and in 1932 made his debut for

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

. He went on to play 35 first class matches for Hawke's Bay between 1932 and 1936.Hawea Mataira
''allblacks.com'' In 1934 he made his

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

debut on a tour of Australia. The next year he was a surprise omission from the 1935–36 tour of Great Britain. Mataira also represented New Zealand Māori. In 1936 Mataira became involved in a dispute with a teammate over a jersey. His teammate, Bernard Edward Rogers was knocked down during the fight and suffered a fractured skull after striking his head as he fell. He died from his injuries. Mataira was charged with manslaughter but was acquitted after it was found that Rogers had been the aggressor and Mataira had tried hard to avoid coming to blows.

Rugby league career

Mataira switched codes in 1937, moving to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and joining the

City Rovers The City Newton Dragons are a defunct New Zealand rugby league club that was based at Victoria Park, Auckland. The club was created in 1948 by a merger of two original clubs, the City Rovers and Newton Rangers. Both the Rovers and the Rangers par ...

club in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

competition. Mataira later joined the

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, so ...

club.Manukau Rugby League and Sports Club Inc
''aucklandleague.co.nz'' He was selected for the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

1939 tour of Great Britain and France but the tour was cancelled before any Test matches were played due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the War, Mataira represented New Zealand Māori against several touring sides.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mataira, Hawea 1979 deaths 1910 births Dual-code rugby internationals New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Auckland rugby league team players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players City Rovers players Manukau Magpies players Rugby league props People from Nūhaka Hawke's Bay rugby union players Rugby league players from Hawke's Bay Rugby union players from Hawke's Bay Rugby union number eights