Pablo Matera


Pablo Nicolás Matera is an Argentine professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Japan Rugby League One club Mie Honda Heat and the Argentina national team. He is regarded as one of the best rugby players in the world and became Argentina's most capped player ever in 2025.
Previously, he played for Stade Français of the Top 14 League, the Leicester Tigers in England, the Pampas XV in the South African Vodacom Cup, and the Jaguares of Super Rugby. Matera has been a regular starter for Argentina since his debut in 2013, having played over 115 Tests for his national team.

Club career

In October 2013, five months after his international debut, English Premiership side Leicester Tigers signed 20-year-old Matera until the end of the 2013–14 season. He initially signed as an injury replacement for Tom Croft. Matera scored his first try for the club in round 16 of the 2013–14 season against the Newcastle Falcons in an 18–41 victory at Kingston Park, Newcastle.
Matera signed for the Jaguares Argentina players, ahead of the 2016 Super Rugby season, after their inclusion in the competition. Matera received a yellow card thirty three minutes into the game against the Sharks at Kings Park Stadium in Durban. Matera scored his first and only try of the season in their fifth home game in round 15 against the Bulls, a 29–11 victory at the José Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires.
Matera scored his first and only try for the Jaguares in the 2017 season against the Waratahs in a 27–40 away win at Allianz Stadium in Sydney.
Matera was named as captain of the Jaguares ahead of the 2018 season.
Matera joined Stade in 2019.

International career

Matera represented Argentina U20 in the 2012 and 2013 U20 World Championships.
Matera made his senior debut for Los Pumas against Chile in May 2013 and was subsequently named in the squad for the 2013 Rugby Championship, where he featured in all the games of that campaign. Matera was a big feature for Argentina in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, playing six of seven games for Los Pumas and helping them finish fourth overall.
Matera played his 50th test for Los Pumas on 18 August 2018 against South Africa during round one on the 2018 Rugby Championship. The test was a 21–34 loss for Los Pumas, who bounced back to beat South Africa the following week. Despite Matera's good performances against South Africa, new head coach Mario Ledesma went on to bench Matera for the 8 September clash against New Zealand.
Matera was the Captain of the national team, which on 14 November 2020 had their first ever win against the All Blacks.
On 30 November 2020, Matera was temporarily stripped of his captaincy and suspended from the national team.
Matera became the most capped Argentina player of all time in 2025 .

Personal life

Controversies

In November 2020, Los Pumas were criticised for not properly honouring the death of Diego Maradona in the game against the All Blacks, three days after his death. In the following days, several Twitter users found and shared racist messages published by Matera in his account. Matera's Twitter posts were made between seven and nine years earlier, when he was a teenager. In response, Matera deleted his social media accounts. He has since publicly apologised.
Both the Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas and the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism heavily condemned Matera’s tweets.

Career statistics

List of international tries

As of 9 August 2022
TryOpposing teamLocationVenueCompetitionDateResultScore
1Montevideo, UruguayEstadio Charrua2013 South American Rugby Championship "A"1 May 2013Win85 – 10
2Montevideo, UruguayEstadio Charrua2013 South American Rugby Championship "A"4 May 2013Win83 – 10
3Santa Fe, ArgentinaEstadio Brigadier Estanislao López2017 June rugby union tests17 June 2017Loss25 – 35
4Durban, South AfricaKings Park Stadium2018 Rugby Championship18 August 2018Loss34 – 21
5Salta, ArgentinaEstadio Padre Ernesto Martearena2018 Rugby Championship6 October 2018Loss34 – 45
6Pretoria, South AfricaLoftus Versfeld Stadium2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches17 August 2019Loss24 – 18
7Cardiff, WalesMillennium Stadium2021 July rugby union tests10 July 2021Draw20 – 20
8Cardiff, WalesMillennium Stadium2021 July rugby union tests17 July 2021Win11 – 33
9Port Elizabeth, South AfricaNelson Mandela Bay Stadium2021 Rugby Championship21 August 2021Loss29 – 10
10Mendoza, ArgentinaEstadio Malvinas Argentinas2022 Rugby Championship6 August 2022Loss26 – 41

Club summary