Matt Dunning (born 19 December 1978) is a former Australian

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 ...

footballer. He played as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

for the Waratahs and

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. ...

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 ...

, and represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He coached the Balmain rugby club in Sydney 2013/2014.

Early life

Dunning was born in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Canada, but grew up in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. He was educated at

Northholm Grammar School Northholm Grammar School is an independent Anglican co-educational primary and secondary day school, located in Arcadia. The school was established in 1983 and is situated on 10 hectares. It currently serves students from Kindergarten to Year ...

. In 1996, he was selected to represent New South Wales at the Australian Schools Rugby Championships. He went on to play for Australian Schools, U19s and U21s. His brother is Canadian prop

Casey Dunning Casey Dunning (born 18 June 1980) is an international rugby union player for Canada, who grew up in Australia. He plays at prop and played for English club Pertemps Bees during 2006–07 season. In the 2006–07 season Dunning broke his ankle whi ...

Rugby career

Dunning made his debut for the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...

in a Ricoh Championship match against Queensland in 2000, and played his first Super 14 match against the Chiefs in 2001. He made his international test debut on 25 October 2003 during the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

at the age of 24. The match against

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

was won 142-0 and is the largest winning margin for an Australian side. The only other match he played in during the tournament was the 17–20 loss against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the final. He is also known for his

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kicki ...

in the 2003 Super 12 season. His team, the

NSW Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state ...

, needed a bonus point to make the finals. Since the Waratahs were playing with advantage, and still needed two more tries to gain the bonus point, Dunning decided to kick a drop goal, which he assumed would miss. This would result in the penalty being awarded, which would allow the ball to be kicked into touch and possibly a line-out drive that could lead to a try. Unfortunately, the kick hit its mark and sailed through the posts, much to his and his teammates' dismay. Dunning was selected for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

and played in all four matches for Australia in the tournament including the 10–12 loss against

in the quarter final. His scrummaging style has at times been criticized.U.K. journalist Rob Wildman, writing in Issue 47,318 of the

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

(Sports Section pS8: Tuesday 24 July 2007) described him as a "foldable camp seat, not averse to conning referees into awarding penalties when his side is in a tight spot" In 2008, Dunning ruptured his right Achilles tendon playing for the Wallabies against the Barbarians at Wembley Stadium. It was the first time rugby union had been played at the stadium since it was rebuilt and the surface was unstable and dangerous. The injury kept him out of the 2009 Super 14 season but after a good spell with his Sydney club

Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station **Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the Ph ...

, he forced his way back into the Wallabies for the 2009 northern hemisphere tour. In 2010 he joined the

, where he played two seasons. Dunning went to France in 2011 to join Top 14 club

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz p ...

, but was forced to withdraw from his contract and return to Sydney to undergo neck surgery. He played for

in their

Shute Shield The Shute Shield is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team from the Sydney premiership grand final held at the end ...

Grand Final Win over Sydney University in 2011, before retiring from top-level rugby.

References

External links

Waratahs profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunning, Matt 1978 births Australian rugby union coaches Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players New South Wales Waratahs players Western Force players Australian people of Canadian descent Canadian rugby union players Sportspeople from Calgary Living people Rugby union players from Sydney Rugby union props