Matt Stevens (rugby union)
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew John Hamilton Stevens | ||
| Born |
1 October 1982 Durban, South Africa |
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| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Weight | 122 kg (19 st 3 lb) | ||
| School(s) attended | Kearsney College | ||
| University | University of Bath | ||
| Club information | |||
| Playing position | Prop | ||
| Current club | Toulon | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2002 | Western Province | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Pts)† |
| 2002–2009 | Bath | 120 | (60) |
| 2011–2014 | Saracens | 13 | (10) |
| 2014–2015 | Sharks (Currie Cup) | 10 | (0) |
| 2015 | Sharks | 8 | (0) |
| 2015–present | Toulon | 7 | (0) |
| Representative team(s)‡ | |||
| 2004–2012 | England | 39 | (0) |
| 2005, 2013 | British and Irish Lions | 0 | (0) |
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* Senior club appearances and points correct as of 14 June 2015. |
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* Senior club appearances and points correct as of 14 June 2015.
† Appearances (Points).
Matthew John Hamilton Stevens (born 1 October 1982) is a South African-born English international rugby union player, who plays at prop for French Top 14 side Toulon.
He can cover both sides of the scrum and most of his England caps have come at tighthead. He formerly played for Bath Rugby club. In 2009 after a positive drugs test, he was banned from the game for two years.
Stevens was educated at Kearsney College, South Africa and played his youth rugby in that country, earning representative honours for Western Province, South African Universities and the Junior Springboks at Under 18 and Under 19 level, before deciding to move to England to pursue his university studies.
He joined Bath in September 2002 and gained attention towards the end of the 2002–2003 season, making five appearances as a substitute. He put in strong performances coming off the bench for Bath early in the following season as the pack dominated all opposition.
He featured in Bath's successful drive to the top of the Zürich Premiership table in 2003–2004 and in March 2004 he was selected ahead of Jason Leonard as a replacement in England's Six Nations game against Ireland at Twickenham.
Stevens was known for popping up in the back line during matches for Bath, and has quite a turn of pace for a front-rower.
In January 2008, Stevens signed a four-year contract with Bath that would have kept him at the club until the end of the 2011–2012 season.
However, on 20 January 2009 it was confirmed Stevens had failed a drug test after Bath's Heineken Cup match against Glasgow the previous month. He was withdrawn from the England 6 nations squad for the 2009 tournament and suspended by Bath RFC. He was banned from rugby for two years on 26 February 2009 after testing positive for cocaine, and on 5 March announced that he was quitting his club before they sacked him.
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