Viliame Mata

Viliame Mata
Birth name Viliame Sevaka Mata
Date of birth (1991-10-22) 22 October 1991
Place of birth Nauluvatau, Nakelo, Tailevu, Fiji
Height 1.97 m (6 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
Weight 116 kg (256 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker/Lock/Number 8
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016– Edinburgh Rugby 36 (40)
Correct as of 22 May 2018
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2017 Fiji 7 (5)
Correct as of 23 June 2018
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
2013– Fiji 7's 10
Medal record
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de JaneiroTeam

Viliame Sevaka Mata (born 22 October 1991) is a Fijian rugby union player.[1] He is currently playing for Scotland based Guinness Pro14 side Edinburgh Rugby. He made his debut for Fiji at the 2014 Wellington Sevens.

Career

Mata was born and raised in Nauluvatau, a small village in Nakelo, Tailevu[2] and was selected by Ben Ryan to represent the Fiji sevens team to the 2014 Wellington Sevens as a replacement for Pio Tuwai.[3]

Mata is a former rugby league player who went on to play for champion local 7's side, Davetalevu.[4] He studied at Suva Grammar School before moving to Ratu Kadavulevu School.[5]

Mata made the final Fiji squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[6]

In July 2016, Mata signed for Pro12 side, Edinburgh for two-years and he joined the side after helping Fiji win Gold at the Olympics [7] but his visa-expired a year later as he was not capped internationally for Fiji and visas for player not capped by Kolpak countries were only for a year, he had to return to Fiji and get capped by the Fiji 15's team. He made his test debut against Australia on June 10th playing off the bench. He played 3 more tests for Fiji off the bench which allowed him to lodge a visa application to extend his visa to Scotland. He returned to Scotland in September 2017 and became a regular starter for his team.

In December 2017, he signed an extension to stay at the club til 2020.[8]


References

  1. ↑ World Rugby Sevens Series (4 December 2015). "FIJI 7S Squads". Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Big Bill Ready For Olympics". fijisun.com.fj. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  3. ↑ "Mata jets out to Wellington at this hour". Fiji One. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  4. ↑ "Mata's 7s series debut – Fiji Times Online". fijitimes.com. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  5. ↑ Maciu Malo. "Dream comes true". Fiji Times. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  6. ↑ Limited, Communications Fiji (17 July 2016). "Fiji 7s team to Rio Olympics announced". fijivillage.com. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  7. ↑ "Viliame Mata: Edinburgh Rugby sign Fiji Olympic gold medallist". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  8. ↑ "Edinburgh forwards Luke Crosbie & Viliame Mata commit to club". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
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