Matt Dawson

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Matt Dawson
Full name	Matthew James Sutherland Dawson
Date of birth	1972-10-31
Place of birth	Birkenhead, England
Height	1.78 m
Weight	90 kg
Rugby union career
Position	Scrum-half
Professional clubs		Caps	(points)
1991-2004 2004-2006	Northampton London Wasps	44	(30)
correct as of 11 Sept 2006.
National team(s)
1995-2005 1997, 2001, 2005	England British and Irish Lions	77 7	(101) (10)
correct as of 11 Sept 2006.

Matthew James Sutherland "Daws" Dawson MBE (born 31 October 1972 in Birkenhead) is a now retired English rugby union footballer who played scrum half for Wasps having played most of his career for Northampton Saints. His international career he toured with the British and Irish Lions three times and was part of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup winning side. He won 77 caps for his country in total, including nine as captain. He is England’s most capped scrum half.

Contents 1 Life 2 Career 3 Other work 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Life

He is best known for his trademark 'sniping runs' and played the whistle well, often scoring tries from 'tap and go' penalties. When called upon, he can also demonstrate his versatility by kicking goals. In recent years he was similar to George Gregan in his 'talkback' to referees.

He was educated at RGS High Wycombe and played his early club rugby with Marlow, where he played alongside former England full back Nick Beal. Dawson joined Northampton in 1991.

In 1993, Dawson was a member of the England Sevens team which won the first Sevens World Cup in Scotland.

[edit] Career

Dawson made his international debut for England in December 1995, against Western Samoa, but would have to fight with Andy Gomarsall, Austin Healey but mostly Kyran Bracken for the England number 9 shirt.

Dawson went on the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa as third-choice scrum half behind Rob Howley and Austin Healey but injury to Howley and some good performances saw him make the starting line-up. In the first test with ten minutes to go, Dawson broke from the base of a scrum and threw an overhead dummy that checked the four Springboks allowing him to scamper in for the winning try. That victory was the start of a 2-1 series win.

He was captain in the 2000 Six Nations and often in the absence of Martin Johnson.

In 2001 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia, Dawson went as second-choice scrum half behind Howley. Howley played in the first two tests but was injured for the third, where Dawson played. Controversially however, Dawson was one of the mid-week side opposed to the actions of coach Graham Henry and criticised Henry publicly for his criticism, although this did not cause as much stir as Healey's similar comments.

Dawson became an integral part of the England side, winning his 50th cap against Ireland on the same day England won the Grand Slam in 2003. He was a crucial part of the team that won the 2003 Six Nations Grand Slam and World Cup, feeding Jonny Wilkinson for the fateful drop goal.

In 2004 he moved from Northampton to Wasps, winning the Premiership title in his first season. Living in London allowed Matt to pursue a media career. In the autumn he failed to turn up to an England training camp due to a previously-arranged commitment to appear on A Question of Sport, resulting in him being dropped from the England squad for the 2004 Autumn internationals. A return to the 2005 Six Nations was expected and Dawson rejoined the Elite Player Squad for the tournament, playing so well he earned a place on the 2005 British Lions tour to New Zealand.

Dawson returned to the England fold in 2005 but had limited opportunities in a disappointing Six Nations campaign as Harry Ellis started at number nine for four of the five matches.

On 7 April 2006, Dawson announced that he would be retiring from rugby completely at the end of the season and on 14 May 2006 he played his last game of premiership rugby, when Sale denied Wasps their chance of winning the Premiership title 4 years in a row and so equalling Leicester's record. Coaching is a possibility for him after leaving Wasps. ^[1]

[edit] Other work

In 2004, Matt Dawson joined the BBC TV quiz show A Question of Sport, featuring as a regular team captain opposite Ally McCoist ^[2]. On 13 September 2006, it was announced that Matt was to take part in the new series of BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing. Also in September 2006, he came first in BBC One's Celebrity Masterchef programme, winning in the final, beating Roger Black and Hardeep Singh Kohli.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/4886212.stm
2. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/09_september/10/dawson.shtml

[edit] External links

• scrum.com statistics
• Profile and Statistcs (itsrugby.co.uk)
• Sporting heroes 1 2 3
• Matt Dawson at the Internet Movie Database