Matthew Papali'i To'omua (born 2 January 1990) is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

professional player who has played close to 60 times for since 2013. He plays for the Mitsubishi Dynaboars in the Japanese League One and his usual position is at

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

inside centre In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

. He has previously played for the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

in England's

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

and for Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby.

Early life

To'omua was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

to a Samoan father and a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

mother of European origin. To'omua moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

where he played his junior football with Logan City and Logan Brothers before attending

Brisbane State High School Brisbane State High School (BSHS or commonly State High) is a partially selective, co-educational, state secondary school, located in South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a member of the Great Public Schools Association of Queensland, ...

. In 2006 he guided the Queensland II side to their maiden Australian National Schools Championship title, scoring all of his side's points in their 14–13 final win over NSW II in Sydney. Competing against the likes of older flyhalves

Kurtley Beale Kurtley James Beale (born 6 January 1989) is an Australian professional rugby union representative player who has made over 90 national representative appearances in a ten-year playing career at the world-class level. He is of Aboriginal desce ...

(NSW) and Queensland's

Quade Cooper Quade Santini Cooper (born 5 April 1988) is a professional rugby union player and occasional boxing, boxer. Although born in New Zealand, he has represented Australia national rugby union team, Australia in rugby at international level. He curre ...

, To'omua was selected in the Australia A side that defeated the Tongan Under 18s, 22–18. Two months later, he captained Queensland Red to the finals of the National Under 16 Championship in Sydney.

Career

To'omua is a fly-half who headed to

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

as a potential long-term playmaker prospect for the two-time Super Rugby champions. To'omua is a product of Brisbane State High School. In July 2007 To'omua won his second Australian Schools Championship, guiding Queensland I to a come-from-behind 23–17 win over NSW I in Canberra. His performance during the tournament earned him the pivot's role for the Australian Schoolboys where he helped guide the side to wins over the England Under 18s (11–3), Samoan Schools (50–9) and a 23–17 win over New Zealand Schools in Sydney, the side's first win over their trans-Tasman rivals since 1997. In 2013, the Brumbies selected To'omua at fly half. In the Brumbies first game of the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumbi ...

, Lealiifano moved to inside centre; and both To'omua and Lealiifano played the full 80 minutes to help the Brumbies defeat the Reds. During the semi-final clash against the South African team the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine * Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

Loftus Versfeld Loftus Versfeld Stadium is a Rugby union, rugby stadium situated in the suburb of Arcadia, Pretoria, Arcadia, city of Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa, owned by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union. The stadium can accommodate 51,762 spe ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, To'omua help set-up the match-winning try to outside-centre

Tevita Kuridrani Tevita Kuridrani (born 31 March 1991) is a Fijian-born Australian rugby union player. His usual position is Centre (rugby union), outside-centre. He is currently with French club Biarritz Olympique, Biarritz and previously played for the Brumbies ...

in the final minutes of the game, helping the Brumbies to win 26–23 which had also guided the team to the Grand Final match against the Chiefs. After an outstanding Super Rugby season with the Brumbies in 2013, To'omua was selected in the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

2013 Rugby Championship The 2013 The Rugby Championship, Rugby Championship, known as ''The SABMiller brands#Castle brewery, Castle Rugby Championship'' in South Africa, ''The Investec Bank, Investec Rugby Championship'' in New Zealand, ''The Castrol#Products, Castrol Ed ...

Squad. On 18 August, he made his Test debut for the Wallabies at Sydney's

ANZ Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

facing the current World Champion All Blacks in the 1st

Bledisloe Cup The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has varied, as has the n ...

Test (of 2013). He became the first Wallaby debutant player to make his Test debut against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

in the Wallabies starting XV since Rod Kafer. He was on the field for 60 minutes before being substituted by

. Following the Sydney

game loss,

Ewen McKenzie Ewen James Andrew McKenzie (born 21 June 1965) is an Australian professional rugby union coach and a former international rugby player. He played for Australia national rugby union team, Australia's World Cup winning team in 1991 and earned 51 ...

stuck with him at fly-half for the second

Test at

Westpac Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (commercially known as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situa ...

in the New Zealand national capital,

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. However, the Wallabies ended-up losing 16–27, and the All Blacks won the

(for 2013). The following that game To'omua was benched for the rest of the

and

claimed the No. 10 fly-half jersey. On 19 October, To'omua was selected at inside centre for the third

clash at

Forsyth Barr Stadium Forsyth Barr Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand. At various stages of development it was also known as Dunedin Stadium or Awatea Street Stadium, or its non-commercial official name during the 2011 Rugby World Cup and 2 ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

. He scored a try at Test level in the game's second half. The Wallabies lost 33–41. On the Wallabies European spring tour, coach

selected him at inside centre for the clashes against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(where he scored the only try for the Wallabies in that game),

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. In the lead-up to the clash against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, To'omua injured his hamstring at training which ruled him out of the rest of the Wallabies final two Spring Tour games. On 15 November 2015

announced the signing of To'omua from the summer of 2016. He made his debut for Leicester on 14 October 2016 in a 42–13 defeat to

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

, To'omua was sent to the sin bin after 13 minutes for a spear tackle. To'omua then suffered a serious knee injury in the next game, his first game at Welford Road, which ruled him out for six months. In August 2018, it was announced that To'omua would return to his hometown to join the

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels were an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria that competed in the Super Rugby competition. The Rebels made their debut in SANZAAR, SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. T ...

after the

2018–19 Premiership Rugby The 2018–19 Gallagher Premiership was the 32nd season of the top flight English domestic rugby union competition and the first one to be sponsored by Gallagher. The reigning champions entering the season were Saracens, who had claimed their fo ...

season. Following a disappointing season where Leicester had to fight relegation To'ouma was released early on 13 May 2019 to join the Rebels with immediate effect.

Personal life

To'omua married international cricket and soccer star

Ellyse Perry Ellyse Perry (born 3 November 1990) is an Australian cricketer and former soccer, soccer player. Having debuted for both the Australia women's national cricket team, national cricket and Australia women's national soccer team, national soccer t ...

in December 2015. In July 2020, they announced they had separated earlier that year.

Career statistics

References

External links

Brumbies Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toomua, Matt 1990 births Living people Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian people of New Zealand descent Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players ACT Brumbies players Western Province (rugby union) players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres People educated at Brisbane State High School Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate rugby union players in South Africa Leicester Tigers players Melbourne Rebels players Australian expatriate rugby union players in England Eastern Suburbs RUFC players Rugby union players from Melbourne Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars players Australian expatriate rugby union players in Japan Rugby union players from Brisbane 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players 21st-century Australian sportsmen