Matthew James Giteau (born 29 September 1982) is an 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 it ...

professional player who is playing with the

LA Giltinis The LA Giltinis are a former Major League Rugby team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. The team was announced in 2020 and entered the league in the 2021 season as an expansion franchise. The Giltinis, named for a yet-to-be-released ...

of Major League Rugby (MLR). Giteau joined the Giltinis after a short playing stint with the Gungahlin Eagles in the ACTRU Premier Division in 2020. His regular playing positions are Inside centre, Halfback and Fly-half. Giteau played as a utility back. His usual positions were inside centre and fly-half, although he started his career as a scrum-half. He played for the Wallabies for the first time in 2002 against

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and was a nominee for the International Rugby Board Player of the Year in 2004. He has appeared in 104 Super Rugby matches. During his career he has won 103 test caps for Australia. He was re-selected to the national team after several years' absence under a rule known as '' Giteau's law''.

Personal life

Giteau attended St Edmund's College, Canberra, which has produced other Wallabies including

George Gregan George Musarurwa Gregan AM (born 19 April 1973) is a retired Australian rugby union player, and is currently Australia's most capped international player. Gregan was born in Lusaka, Zambia. He played Super 12 (now Super Rugby) for the Brumbies ...

, Matt Henjak and

Ricky Stuart Ricky John Stuart (born 7 January 1967) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Canberra Raiders in the NRL and a former rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. H ...

. His father Ron Giteau is a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer, and his older sister

Kristy Giteau Kristy Giteau (born 16 March 1981) is a rugby union player. She played for and was a member of the squad to the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup that finished in third place. She is the sister of Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-s ...

is a dual-code rugby international for Australia. On 11 December 2010, Matt Giteau married Bianca Franklin, a former netball player with the

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they pla ...

. They have three children, Levi, Kai and Winter.

Playing career

2001–05

Giteau made his debut for the ACT Brumbies in 2001 and the Wallabies in 2002. During this time he won two Super Rugby titles with the Brumbies in the 2001 Super 12 season and the

2004 Super 12 season The 2004 Super 12 season was the ninth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2004, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season ...

and was a part of the Wallabies at 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 ...

2006–07

In April 2006 Giteau announced that he would play for the Western Force Super Rugby team, in the

2007 Super 14 season The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at ABSA Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rugby. Th ...

. He was included in the Wallabies 2006 mid-year rugby tests squad, but was ruled out with an injury. However he recovered in time for the 2006 Tri Nations Series. He came off the bench in the first game in the series. In 2007, Giteau was selected for the Wallabies 2007 Rugby World Cup and 2008 squad and was first choice No. 12. He also had gained 40 test points, putting him in the top scorer's list in the competition. Giteau took injuries into the match, and the Wallabies lost in the quarter-final to England 10–12. Following Rugby World Cup, Giteau played fly-half for the Barbarians against Rugby World Cup winners

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Giteau scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

, and the Barbarians won 22–5.

2008

In 2008, new Wallabies coach

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans h ...

selected Giteau as Australia's new fly-half, following the retirement of

Stephen Larkham Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of head coach for Brumbies. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the pro ...

. Giteau played fly-half against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in the mid year test. In the 2008 Tri Nations Series, Giteau played in all six games. He played against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

winning 34–22 at the

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand * ...

in Sydney, and against

winning 27–15 at

Kings Park Stadium The Kings Park Stadium (known as the Hollywoodbets Kings Park for sponsorship reasons since 2022), is a stadium located in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct in Durban, South Africa. The stadium was originally built with a capacity of 12,000 an ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. Giteau was also a part of the Wallabies' record loss that following week to South Africa 53–8.

Super Rugby

Giteau played for the Western Force for 2007–09. In 2007 the Force finished seventh, and recorded their first home win (17–18 against the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

). In 2010 Giteau returned to Canberra and the Brumbies, where he played for 2010 and 2011.

Move to France

USO - RCT - 28-09-2013 - Stade Mathon - Matthew Giteau

During the

2011 Super Rugby season The 2011 Super Rugby season was the first season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involved teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Including its past iterations as Super 12 and Super 14, this was the 16t ...

, Giteau signed with the French club

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, a move that would take effect after the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Despite not being selected for the Australian World Cup squad, he could not join Toulon until mid-November, as he was still under contract with the

Australian Rugby Union Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named the Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It ...

through the World Cup. In May 2013 he started as

won the

2013 Heineken Cup Final The 2013 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2012–13 Heineken Cup, the 18th season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 18 May 2013 in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, kicking off at 5 pm ( ...

by 16–15 against Clermont Auvergne. He won three European titles with Toulon starting all three. In 2015 they won three successive European titles, (2013 vs Clermont 16–15, 2014 vs Saracens 23-6, and 2015 vs Clermont 24-18). He also won the Top 14 in 2014.

2015

In 2015, national coach Michael Cheika negotiated with the

to allow players with 60 caps or more eligible to represent the Wallabies despite not playing in the Super Rugby known as Giteau's law. Giteau played against the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

winning 24–20 at

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

, and against the

27–19 at

. Giteau was selected in the Wallabies 31-man squad to represent in the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In October, during the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Giteau scored his 30th international try for the Wallabies as part of their win against

, knocking them out of the tournament. Giteau was a key player for the Wallabies to reach 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 ...

final, but his World Cup dream was short lasting as Giteau copped a head knock in the opening stages of the match and ruled him out of the match, the Wallabies lost to the

17–34

Top League

In March 2017, Giteau announced that he would spend his last season with Toulon as a player-coach. On 15 May 2017, Giteau confirmed his move to Japan with Suntory Sungoliath in the

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

next season.

Major League Rugby

In March 2021 Giteau joined his former Australia teammate, Adam Ashley-Cooper at the

for the

2021 Major League Rugby season The 2021 Major League Rugby season was the fourth season of Major League Rugby, the professional rugby union competition sanctioned by USA Rugby. The regular season began on March 20, 2021. One team made their debut in 2021: the LA Giltinis. T ...

. In August 2021, Giteau announced his retirement from rugby union after a man of the match performance in the Giltini's MLR shield win against Rugby ATL. Giteau was named in the MLR team of the season with 96 points scored in 814 minutes played. Giteau finally decided to come back to the Giltinis in 2022.rugbypass.com/news/wallabies-great-matt-giteau-turns-down-retirement-to-return-to-mlr/

References

External links

Brumbies profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giteau, Matt 1982 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport rugby union players Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Barbarian F.C. players ACT Brumbies players RC Toulonnais players Western Force players Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves Rugby sevens players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Male rugby sevens players Australian people of French descent Expatriate rugby union players in France Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of Australia LA Giltinis players Tokyo Sungoliath players Australia international rugby sevens players Rugby union players from Sydney