Matt Vaega (born 7 September 1994) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a midfield back for in the Mitre 10 Cup.

Early career

The son of n legend To'o Vaega, he was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand and attended school at

Kelston Boys' High School Kelston Boys' High School ("KBHS") (Te kura tuarua o nga tamatane o kerehana) is an all-boys state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in the Waitakere region of Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High Scho ...

. While there, he helped them to lift the World Rugby Youth Tournament in Japan.

Senior career

Vaega began his senior career with Auckland-based, North Harbour 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 ...

scoring 2 tries in 6 appearances. Although the season was not successful for Harbour, Vaega impressed in their midfield and was retained for the following season. He played 9 times in 2015 and was then an ever present during Harbour's Championship winning season 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 ...

, scoring 4 tries in the process.

Super Rugby

Impressive form at provincial level was rewarded when after only 6 senior appearances, he was surprisingly included in the wider training group for the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

. He debuted against the and made a total of 3 appearances during the campaign including 1 start and also scored his first try at Super Rugby level. New head coach

Tana Umaga Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga (; ; born 27 May 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. Since 2016 he has been coach of the Blues in the Super Rugby competition. He played ...

dropped him from the squad for

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

, however a mid-season injury crisis in the Blues midfield saw him called upon as an injury replacement and he made 2 appearances from the replacements bench. Outstanding performances in North Harbour's successful Mitre 10 Cup campaign in 2016 saw him earn a recall to the Blues squad for

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

International

Vaega represented New Zealand Schools in 2012.

Career Honours

North Harbour * Mitre 10 Cup Championship -

Super Rugby Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaega, Matt 1994 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union centres North Harbour rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Rugby union players from Auckland New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent People educated at Kelston Boys' High School Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan