Matt Dawson
Encyclopedia
Matthew James Sutherland "Daws" Dawson, MBE
(born 31 October 1972 in Birkenhead
) is a retired English
rugby union
player who played scrum half for Wasps
and Northampton Saints
. During 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.
He was educated at RGS High Wycombe
and played his early club rugby with Marlow Rugby club. 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 alongside Andy Harriman, Adedayo Adebayo
, Nick Beal
, who is also an RGS old boy, Justyn Cassell, Lawrence Dallaglio
, Damien Hopley, Tim Rodber
, Dave Scully and Chris Sheasby. Dawson and Dallaglio are therefore the only players to have won World Cup Winners medals at both the 15 and 7 a side games.
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, clinched when he fed Jeremy Guscott
for the series-winning drop goal.
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
. He played a vital role in winning the final tie against Australia in Sydney on 22 November 2003. With less than a minute remaining in extra time he made a completely unexpected break gaining a vital 20 metres upfield. From the subsequent maul he fed the ball to Jonny Wilkinson
for the winning drop goal. Many people feel he deserves as much credit as Wilkinson for the final score which secured the victory.
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 well enough to earn a place on the 2005 British Lions tour to New Zealand
, managed by Sir Clive Woodward.
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.
, featuring as a regular team captain opposite Ally McCoist
and more recently, Phil Tufnell
.
In September 2006, he appeared in BBC One
's Celebrity MasterChef programme, beating Roger Black
and Hardeep Singh Kohli
, to win the final.
He took part in Strictly Come Dancing
in 2006, partnered by Lilia Kopylova
. Although appearing initially to be an unlikely contender, he came second, only beaten in the final by cricketer Mark Ramprakash
. He later returned to the show in 2008 to dance with Elaine Paige
in Sport Relief does Strictly Come Dancing to raise money for Sport Relief
, where they came second.
In January 2007, it was announced that Matt Dawson would be joining BBC Radio Five Live
as summariser for the commentary on England's forthcoming Six Nations Championship
games. He went on to cover the 2007 Rugby World Cup for the BBC. He also presents 5-Live's weekly Rugby show.
He was recently on an edition of www.888.com TV poker special where he ended up coming a very close second.
2008 saw Matt Dawson co-hosting Mitch and Matt's Big Fish, a seafood lovers tour of the British coast, in which he and Mitch Tonks tasted and cooked a variety of fish dishes using the catch of the British fishing ports.
In 2010, Matt hosted Monster Munchies
for Good Food, where he challenged two teams to make a monster sized local delicacy in 24 hours which were unveiled at a local show and were judged on size, presentation and taste, the size they were aiming for is that of a small car.
improving the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in Britain and Ireland. He posed nude in the women's magazine Cosmopolitan
in support of the testicular
and prostate cancer
charity Everyman
.
Matt has been supporting the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) since 2004, and became a UNICEF UK ambassador in 2009. In June 2009 Matt took time out while broadcasting for the Lions tour in South Africa to visit UNICEF programmes focusing on education, shelter and HIV/AIDS.
He completed the 2007 London Marathon
for charity in 4 hours 35 minutes and 39 seconds.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 31 October 1972 in Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
) is a retired English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player who played scrum half for Wasps
London Wasps
London Wasps is an English professional rugby union team. The men's first team, which forms London Wasps, was derived from Wasps Football Club who were formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London, at the turn of professionalism in 1999...
and Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints are a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The Northampton Saints were formed in 1880. They play in green, black and gold colours. They play their home games at Franklin's Gardens, which has a capacity of 13,591....
. During his international career he toured with the British and Irish Lions
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
three times and was part of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
winning side. He won 77 caps for his country in total, including nine as captain. He is England’s most capped scrum half.
Rugby career
He was best known for his trademark 'sniping runs' and played the whistle well, often scoring tries from 'tap and go' penalties. When called upon, he could also demonstrate his versatility by kicking goals.He was educated at RGS High Wycombe
Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe
See Royal Grammar School for the other schools with the name RGS.The Royal Grammar School High Wycombe is a selective grammar school situated in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. As a state school it does not charge fees for students to attend, but they must pass an entrance exam...
and played his early club rugby with Marlow Rugby club. Dawson joined Northampton in 1991.
In 1993, Dawson was a member of the England Sevens
England national rugby union team (sevens)
The English national rugby union sevens team compete in the World Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games.-Honours:* 1973 International Seven-A-Side Tournament - Winners* Rugby World Cup Sevens Winners 1993* Hong Kong Sevens Winners 2002* Hong Kong Sevens Winners 2003*...
team which won the first Sevens World Cup
Rugby World Cup Sevens
The Rugby World Cup Sevens is the premier international Rugby sevens competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board , and is contested by the men's national sevens teams every four years. The inaugural tournament was held in 1993 in Scotland, the...
in Scotland alongside Andy Harriman, Adedayo Adebayo
Adedayo Adebayo
Adedayo Adeyemi Adebayo is a rugby union footballer, who played on the wing for England 8 times between 1996 and 1998. He played club rugby for Bath and Parma and then went on to coach the Scottish based sevens side, .He made his international debut on 23 November 1996 against Italy, a match...
, Nick Beal
Nick Beal
Nicholas David Beal is a rugby union player who played at Fullback for Northampton Saints, England and the Lions. He attended the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe....
, who is also an RGS old boy, Justyn Cassell, Lawrence Dallaglio
Lawrence Dallaglio
Lorenzo Bruno Nero "Lawrence" Dallaglio, OBE is a retired English rugby union player and former captain of the English national team. He played as a flanker or number eight for London Wasps and never played for another club, having arrived at Sudbury as a teenager...
, Damien Hopley, Tim Rodber
Tim Rodber
Timothy Andrew Keith Rodber formerly a rugby union footballer who played at Number eight, flanker or lock for Northampton Saints, England, and the British and Irish Lions...
, Dave Scully and Chris Sheasby. Dawson and Dallaglio are therefore the only players to have won World Cup Winners medals at both the 15 and 7 a side games.
Dawson made his international debut for England in December 1995, against Western Samoa
Samoa national rugby union team
The Manu Samoa is the men's representative side of the Samoa Rugby Union in both the 15's and the 7's for international competitions. The Samoa Rugby Union is owned by the affiliated rugby unions of Samoa. In Samoa, Manu Samoa is in honour of a famous Samoan warrior. From 1924 to 1997 Samoa was...
, but would have to fight with Andy Gomarsall
Andy Gomarsall
Andrew Charles Thomas Gomarsall MBE is a rugby union player who plays at scrum-half for Leeds Carnegie and England.He previously played for Gloucester Rugby, Bedford and Wasps...
, Austin Healey but mostly Kyran Bracken
Kyran Bracken
Kyran Paul Patrick Bracken MBE is a former English rugby union footballer who played at scrum-half for Saracens, Bristol and Waterloo R.F.C....
for the England number 9 shirt.
Dawson went on the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa
1997 British Lions tour to South Africa
The 1997 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa was a series of matches played by the British and Irish Lions rugby union team in South Africa.This tour followed the Lions' 1993 tour to New Zealand and preceded their 2001 tour to Australia....
as third-choice scrum half behind Rob Howley
Rob Howley
Robert Howley is a former Welsh rugby union footballer. He was considered one of the greatest ever scrum-halves and gained 59 caps for Wales, 22 of them as captain.Howley made his Wales debut in February 1996...
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, clinched when he fed Jeremy Guscott
Jeremy Guscott
Jeremy Clayton Guscott is a former rugby union outside centre who played for Bath, England and the British and Irish Lions. On rare occasions, he has also appeared for England on the wing....
for the series-winning drop goal.
He was captain in the 2000 Six Nations
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
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
Graham Henry
Graham Henry is a New Zealand Rugby Union coach, and former head coach of the country's national team, the All Blacks. He played rugby union for Canterbury and cricket for Otago in the Plunket Shield. Henry was heavily criticized following the All Blacks quarterfinal exit at the 2007 Rugby World...
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
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
Grand Slam
Grand Slam (Rugby Union)
In rugby union, a Grand Slam occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship manages to beat all the others during one year's competition...
and World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
. He played a vital role in winning the final tie against Australia in Sydney on 22 November 2003. With less than a minute remaining in extra time he made a completely unexpected break gaining a vital 20 metres upfield. From the subsequent maul he fed the ball to Jonny Wilkinson
Jonny Wilkinson
Jonathan Peter "Jonny" Wilkinson OBE is an English rugby union player and member of the England national team. Wilkinson rose to acclaim from 2001 to 2003, before and during the 2003 Rugby World Cup and was acknowledged as one of the world’s best rugby players...
for the winning drop goal. Many people feel he deserves as much credit as Wilkinson for the final score which secured the victory.
In 2004 he moved from Northampton
Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints are a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The Northampton Saints were formed in 1880. They play in green, black and gold colours. They play their home games at Franklin's Gardens, which has a capacity of 13,591....
to Wasps
London Wasps
London Wasps is an English professional rugby union team. The men's first team, which forms London Wasps, was derived from Wasps Football Club who were formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London, at the turn of professionalism in 1999...
, 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
A Question of Sport
A Question of Sport is a long-running BBC quiz show which started on 2 December 1968 and continues to this day. It is currently recorded at The Studios, MediaCityUK...
, resulting in him being dropped from the England squad for the 2004 Autumn internationals. A return to the 2005 Six Nations
2005 Six Nations Championship
The 2005 RBS 6 Nations Championship was the sixth series of the Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy...
was expected and Dawson rejoined the Elite Player Squad for the tournament, playing well enough to earn a place on the 2005 British Lions tour to New Zealand
2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand
In 2005 the British and Irish Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, playing 7 tour matches against first and second division clubs from the National Provincial Championship series, 1 tour match against the national New Zealand all Māori club, and 3 official test...
, managed by Sir Clive Woodward.
Dawson returned to the England fold in 2005 but had limited opportunities in a disappointing Six Nations campaign as Harry Ellis
Harry Ellis
Harry Alistair Ellis is a retired English rugby union footballer who played scrum half for Leicester Tigers, England and the British & Irish Lions....
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.
Other work
In 2004, Matt Dawson joined the BBC TV quiz show A Question of SportA Question of Sport
A Question of Sport is a long-running BBC quiz show which started on 2 December 1968 and continues to this day. It is currently recorded at The Studios, MediaCityUK...
, featuring as a regular team captain opposite Ally McCoist
Ally McCoist
Alistair Murdoch "Ally" McCoist, MBE ; 24 September 1962) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Rangers in Scotland....
and more recently, Phil Tufnell
Phil Tufnell
Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell is a former English cricketer turned television personality. A slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler, "Tuffers" as he was known played 42 Tests and 20 One Day International matches for England, as well as playing for Middlesex from 1986 to 2002...
.
In September 2006, he appeared in BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
's Celebrity MasterChef programme, beating Roger Black
Roger Black
Roger Anthony Black MBE is a retired British athlete. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Games and World Championships, two individual gold medals at the European Championships, and 4x400 metres relay gold medals at both the...
and Hardeep Singh Kohli
Hardeep Singh Kohli
Hardeep Singh Kohli is a British writer and radio and television presenter.-Background:Kohli was born in London and moved to Glasgow in Scotland when he was four. His parents came to the UK from India in the 1960s. The family's roots lie in the Punjab. His mother was a social worker, and his...
, to win the final.
He took part in Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
in 2006, partnered by Lilia Kopylova
Lilia Kopylova
Lilia Andreyevna Kopylova , born 18 June 1978 in Moscow, Soviet Union, is a professional dancer.With her husband Darren Bennett she has been competing as an amateur since July 1997 and as a professional since May 2003...
. Although appearing initially to be an unlikely contender, he came second, only beaten in the final by cricketer Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ravin Ramprakash is an English cricketer, playing for Surrey and England. A right-handed batsman, he initially made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21...
. He later returned to the show in 2008 to dance with Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, North London, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16...
in Sport Relief does Strictly Come Dancing to raise money for Sport Relief
Sport Relief
Sport Relief is a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, which brings together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries...
, where they came second.
In January 2007, it was announced that Matt Dawson would be joining BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
as summariser for the commentary on England's forthcoming Six Nations Championship
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
games. He went on to cover the 2007 Rugby World Cup for the BBC. He also presents 5-Live's weekly Rugby show.
He was recently on an edition of www.888.com TV poker special where he ended up coming a very close second.
2008 saw Matt Dawson co-hosting Mitch and Matt's Big Fish, a seafood lovers tour of the British coast, in which he and Mitch Tonks tasted and cooked a variety of fish dishes using the catch of the British fishing ports.
In 2010, Matt hosted Monster Munchies
Monster Munchies
Monster Munchies is a cookery show which is broadcast on the British television channel Good Food. It is hosted by Matt Dawson.- Format :Teams made up of local cooks from the location where the episode is filmed, make mega dishes within a 24 hour time limit, sourcing large quantities of ingredients...
for Good Food, where he challenged two teams to make a monster sized local delicacy in 24 hours which were unveiled at a local show and were judged on size, presentation and taste, the size they were aiming for is that of a small car.
Charitable work
He is an Honorary President of the rugby charity Wooden SpoonWooden Spoon Society
Wooden Spoon is a children's charity founded in 1983, when the England rugby team received the Wooden Spoon in the 5 Nations. Spoon is dedicated to helping children and young people who are disadvantaged physically, mentally or socially by using sport as a method of improving lives while...
improving the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in Britain and Ireland. He posed nude in the women's magazine Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
in support of the testicular
Testicular cancer
Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system.In the United States, between 7,500 and 8,000 diagnoses of testicular cancer are made each year. In the UK, approximately 2,000 men are diagnosed each year. Over his lifetime, a man's risk of...
and prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
charity Everyman
Everyman Campaign
The Everyman Campaign is a campaign that was launched in the UK by The Institute of Cancer Research in 1997. It seeks to raise awareness of testicular and prostate cancer and to raise funds to research treatments....
.
Matt has been supporting the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) since 2004, and became a UNICEF UK ambassador in 2009. In June 2009 Matt took time out while broadcasting for the Lions tour in South Africa to visit UNICEF programmes focusing on education, shelter and HIV/AIDS.
He completed the 2007 London Marathon
London Marathon
The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition, which has a $1 million prize purse. It has been held each spring in London since 1981. The race is currently sponsored by Virgin Money,...
for charity in 4 hours 35 minutes and 39 seconds.
- Patron of The National Hospital Development Foundation (NHDF)
- Patron of Beating Bowel Cancer - a leading UK charity for bowel cancer patients, working to raise awareness of symptoms, promote early diagnosis and encourage open access to treatment choice for those affected by bowel cancer.
Other sporting and academic interests
- Dawson played cricket for Buckinghamshire Under-18s as a wicketkeeper-batsman.
- He also played football for ChelseaChelsea F.C.Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
Schoolboys as a winger before deciding to concentrate on rugby. - Dawson is a keen supporter of Premiership side Everton Football Club.
- Dawson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Buckinghamshire Chilterns University CollegeBuckinghamshire Chilterns University CollegeBuckinghamshire New University is a university in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The Vice-Chancellor is Prof Ruth Farwell...
on 5 September 2007.