The Profile
The rugby career behind the headlines.
Matt Dawson was the scrum half in the 2003 England World Cup winning side, and the half back pairing with Jonny Wilkinson was one of the most consistent and dominant in world rugby during that period. He played seventy seven Tests for England, three Lions tours, and was a fixture of Northampton Saints during their great mid 2000s era.
His leadership, positional awareness and kicking from the base of the ruck were the kind of skills that did not always show up in post-match highlights but which experts and coaches rated as some of the best in the professional era. He is a thinking rugby player who became a thinking rugby commentator.
Post-retirement, he captained A Question Of Sport for over a decade, one of the longest runs in the show's history, and has built a successful career in television presenting across multiple genres. He is one of the rare ex-sportsmen who has made the transition to mainstream entertainment work without losing the respect of his sporting peers.
“The 2003 squad was a group of blokes who did not particularly need to like each other. We just all knew what we were there for. That was the secret of it.”
Career highlights
- Rugby World Cup winner 2003
- 77 England caps
- British and Irish Lions 1997, 2001, 2005
- Northampton Saints Premiership and Heineken Cup winner
- A Question Of Sport captain, 2004 to 2018
- MBE for services to rugby
First hand
Matt Dawson at Steam
Matt spoke at Steam in June 2025. He opened with a question to the room and ended up taking more than he asked.