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| Born | (1988-09-17)17 September 1988 (age 37) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 120 kg (18 st 13 lb; 260 lb)[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mathieu Bastareaud (French pronunciation:[matjøbastaʁo]; born 17 September 1988) is a French formerrugby union player. Originally acentre, he played forRC Massy,Stade Français, and then eight seasons forToulon with whom he won threeEuropean Cups and aFrench Championship. In 2019, he moved toLyon Olympique Universitaire for one season, where he changed position tonumber 8. In 2020, he left for the United States where he played forRugby United New York, before returning to Lyon. In 2022 he returned to Toulon, still as a number 8. He retired in 2023 and is now team manager of Toulon.
Bastareaud represented France at Under 19 andUnder 20 levels before winning the first of his 54 caps in 2009. He won the 2010 Six Nations tournament and played in the 2015 World Cup with France. He retired from international rugby in 2019.
Bastareaud played for Creteil Rugby youth squads and then moved to Massy. He went through the junior academy there and played for the third division club RC Massy. He attracted national attention and after two seasons he moved toStade Français.
He was included in the2009 Six Nations Championship squad. He impressed in the match againstWales,[3] which France won 21–16, on 27 February 2009, which was also hisSix Nations Championship debut. He later played againstEngland and as a replacement againstItaly in the same competition. Matthieu was involved in the2010 Six Nations Championship and was a key figure for the French side.[4] He scored two tries againstScotland atMurrayfield. He was rested for the majority of the game against Italy but was brought on for the last 15 minutes.
In July 2011 Bastareaud was finally allowed to joinToulon. He had previously declared his wish to leave and with Stade Francais suffering major financial difficulties, (which saw them come close to being relegated) his wish was eventually granted.[5] He signed a 3-year contract. In May 2013 he was named as man of the match asToulon won the2013 Heineken Cup Final by 16–15 againstClermont Auvergne.[6]
Despite the presence of French international captainGuilhem Guirado in Toulon, Bastareaud was selected as captain for the 2017/18 season, with South African team-mateDuane Vermeulen struggling with injury. After being caught swearing at Benetton flankerSebastian Negri in 2018, Bastareaud was suspended for three weeks.
It was announced in April 2019 that Bastareaud would leaveToulon after the 2018/19 season to join US sideRugby United New York inMajor League Rugby.[7]
On 18 April 2020, Bastareaud returned to France to joinLyon back in theTop 14 on a two-year contract beginning in the 2020–21 season.[8] In 2022 he rejoined Toulon.
Bastareaud was included in the French tour toNew Zealand andAustralia in June 2009, but returned to France early after sustaining facial injuries. He initially claimed that he had been assaulted from behind by "four or five men" outside hisWellington hotel as he was returning from a night out. TheNew Zealand Police launched an investigation into the assault and turned upsecurity camera footage of Bastareaud returning uninjured to his hotel with four other people at 5:22 am that night, confirming the assault could not have taken place. Bastareaud subsequently stated that he had beendrunk and had sustained the injuries after tripping over a table in his hotel room, and that he had concocted the original story in order to avoid getting in trouble with team management.[9][10]
The incident proved to have diplomatic implications. Following the initial assault allegation, international media speculated on New Zealand's security and suitability as a tourist destination and host country[citation needed], especially leading into the2011 Rugby World Cup, spurring New Zealand Prime MinisterJohn Key to issue an official apology for the incident.[11][12] Following the later revelations, French Prime MinisterFrançois Fillon sent a letter to Key, in which he apologised for the unfortunate affair and spoke of the strong relationship betweenFrance and New Zealand, a rare official intervention in sporting issues for the French.[13] Then on 29 June,L'Equipe reported that Bastareaud had been admitted to a psychiatric facility after attempting suicide.[14][15]Pierre Camou, President of theFrench Rugby Federation has referred the case to their Disciplinary Committee and asked them to investigate.[16]
In 2010, Bastareaud was selected to theFrench Barbarians squad to playTonga on 26 November.
Bastareaud started his first test in two years in 2017, against New Zealand in a 38–18 loss. Bastareaud had not made it onto the international field since he started in the2015 Rugby World Cup quarter final, where the French lost to New Zealand 62–13. Bastareaud's two-year absence was cause by the fact that he had struggled with form loss and with injuries since the World Cup.
Bastareaud missed the opening round of the2018 Six Nations Championship due to suspension. He returned to international rugby on 23 February 2018 to start against Italy. Bastareaud had the final say in the fixture, scoring a try in the 73rd minute. His try was converted byFrançois Trinh-Duc to make the final score against the Italians a 34–17 win, France's first international win in over 11 months. Bastareaud continued his return with good form and he ended up captaining France for the first time on 17 March 2018 during a 13–14 loss to Wales.
On 19 June 2019, Bastareaud announced his retirement from international rugby after not being selected for France'sRugby World Cup warm-up matches.[17]
French international football player,William Gallas, is Bastareaud's cousin.[18]
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