Matthew John Te Pou is a New Zealand

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

leader and former rugby union coach and soldier. Te Pou served in the New Zealand Army for 23 years, including active service in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, and was an instructor at the

Royal Military College, Duntroon lit: Learning promotes strength , established = , type = Military college , chancellor = , head_label = Commandant , head = Brigadier Ana Duncan , principal = , city = Campbell , state ...

in Australia for three years. He was coach of the

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing i ...

for 11 years until 2005. Te Pou is chair of the Tūhoe Fisheries Charitable Trust, and was a negotiator representing eight

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

in the Central North Island forestry settlement. In the 1982 Queen's Birthday Honours, Te Pou was awarded the British Empire Medal (military division). In the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a Member of the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire, and he was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to rugby, in the 2006 New Year Honours. Te Pou's son, also called Matt Te Pou, played international rugby for .

References

Ngāi Tūhoe people New Zealand military personnel of the Vietnam War New Zealand Māori soldiers New Zealand recipients of the British Empire Medal New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand rugby union coaches Year of birth missing (living people) Living people {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-stub