Matt Faddes (born 6 November 1991) is a

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 ...

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 currently plays as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

or fullback for

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

Early career

Born in the town of Balclutha, located halfway between

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

on New Zealand's South Island, Faddes was educated at

South Otago High School , type = State, Co-educational, Secondary (Year 9-13) , established = 1926 , motto_translation = (By Faith and Fortitude) , address = Frances Street,Rosebank,Balclutha,New Zealand , coo ...

in his hometown.

Professional career

Faddes first played provincial rugby for Otago in

2011 ITM Cup The 2011 ITM Cup season was the sixth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on July 14, when Otago hosted North Harbour. It involved the top fourteen rugby uni ...

, debuting against . He made two appearances in total in 2011 and two more the following year before playing 7 times and scoring 2 tries in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

to help the Razorbacks finish 2nd on the Championship log and reach the playoff semi-finals where his 12th minute try was unable to stop them from bowing out 24-29 at home to . He only saw action once in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, but in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

his career in the 15-man game really began to take off. Having previously played mostly as an outside back, he largely featured as a centre for Otago in 2015 and it was a move that paid off with him scoring 6 tries in 10 games as they reached the Championship playoffs before being comprehensively defeated by . He continued to be a key player for the Razorbacks in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, contributing 3 tries in 11 games as the men from Dunedin topped the Championship standings before surprisingly losing at home by in the play off final, a defeat which consigned them to another season of Championship rugby in 2017. Following the unfortunate defeat Faddes decided to try his hand at a different field, Accounting at the University of Otago.

Super Rugby

Excellent showings in the midfield for Otago during the 2015 ITM Cup saw Faddes earn a Super Rugby contract with the Dunedin-based ahead of the 2016 season. He made a dream start to life as a Super Rugby player scoring 10 tries in 16 games, including a hat-trick against the which put him second, behind

Israel Folau Israel Folau ( to, ‘Isileli Folau; born 3 April 1989) is an Australian professional rugby union footballer who plays for the Shining Arcs in the Japan Rugby League One and the Tonga national rugby union team. He has previously played Aust ...

of the in the try scoring charts. His side, the Highlanders, were defending Super Rugby champions in 2016, however they were unable to hold on to their title and were eliminated by the in the semi-finals, losing 42-30 with Faddes' 48th minute try scored in vain. Tony Brown replaced the -bound

Jamie Joseph James Whitinui Joseph (born 21 November 1969) is a New Zealand-born Japanese former rugby union player and current rugby union coach. A flanker, Joseph represented Otago at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, ...

as Highlanders head coach ahead of the 2017 season and having worked with Faddes at provincial level, he retained him in the squad for his first year in charge.

Move to Ulster

Faddes moved to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

to join

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 ...

ahead of the 2019–20 season, and has played both in the

Pro14 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

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

. Faddes returned to Otago in 2021.

International

Faddes was an

All Blacks Sevens The New Zealand national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. They have won a record twelve World Rugby Sevens Series titles. The team has been of ...

representative in

, helping them to victory in the

2013 London Sevens The 2013 London Sevens was the seventh edition of the rugby union tournament and the final stage of the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series and was hosted at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. Format The teams were divided into pools of four t ...

and playing in 3 competitions in total throughout the season. On 5 November 2016, Faddes featured in the number 14 jersey for the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

in their 31-31 draw against at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. He was replaced by Australian

Luke Morahan Luke Morahan (born 13 April 1990) is an Australian rugby player currently playing for the Bristol Bears in the Premiership Rugby, English Premiership since 2017. Morahan's main position is on the Wing (rugby union), wing, however, he does also p ...

in the 51st minute of the match.

Career honours

All Blacks Sevens *

IRB Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

2012–13

Super Rugby statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faddes, Matt 1991 births Living people Barbarian F.C. players Expatriate rugby union players in Northern Ireland Highlanders (rugby union) players Male rugby sevens players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Northern Ireland New Zealand international rugby sevens players New Zealand rugby union players North Otago rugby union players Otago rugby union players People educated at South Otago High School Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Balclutha, New Zealand Rugby union wings Ulster Rugby players