Matthew James Pini, also known as Matt Pini (born 21 March 1969 in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

), is an Australian-born Italian naturalized rugby union player. He played as a fullback. Pini played for Wests Bulldogs, from 1990/91 to 1995/96. He moved to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

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 ...

, where he played one season, in 1997/98. He spent the next season at RC Narbonne (1998/99). He had then his only season spent at

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, representing

Rugby Roma Olimpic The Rugby Roma Olimpic Club 1930 is an Italian rugby union team, based in Rome. The club won 5 Italian titles, in 1935, 1937, 1948, 1949 and 2000, the Coppa Italia in 1998 and competed in 58 editions of the Italian top tier championship (now, the ...

(1999/2000). Moving to

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

, he would play there from 2000/01 to 2002/03. Pini was one of the few players to compete at the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

for two countries,

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 ...

and

. He had 8 caps for the "Wallabies", from 1994 to 1995, scoring 2 tries, 10 points in aggregate. He played 2 games at the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

. He adopted Italian citizenship, due to his Italian ancestry, which allowed him to represent Italy. He had 12 caps for his new country, scoring 2 tries, 10 points in aggregate, from 1998 to 2000. He played at the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

, being used in 3 games. He also played 4 games at the

2000 Six Nations Championship The 2000 Six Nations Championship was the first series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, following the addition of Italy to the Five Nations. It was the 106th season of the championship overall. The title was won by England. England won ...

. He renounced the National Team the same year.Matt Pini International Statistics
/ref> He is head coach of Gallopers Old Boys, in Ashgrove, a team from the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Premiership, in

, since 2007/08.

References

External links

* 1969 births Australian rugby union players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australia international rugby union players Australian rugby union coaches Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players Italian rugby union coaches Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Rugby union fullbacks Living people Richmond F.C. players Rugby union players from Canberra {{Italy-rugbyunion-bio-stub