Matt Te Pou (rugby union coach)

Matthew John Te Pou MNZM MBE BEM is a New Zealand Māori leader and former rugby union coach and soldier.

Te Pou served in the New Zealand Army for 23 years, including active service in Vietnam, and was an instructor at the Royal Military College, Duntroon in Australia for three years.^[1][2] He was coach of the Māori All Blacks for 11 years until 2005.^[3] Te Pou is chair of the Tūhoe Fisheries Charitable Trust, and was a negotiator representing eight iwi in the Central North Island forestry settlement.^[1]

In the 1982 Queen's Birthday Honours, Te Pou was awarded the British Empire Medal (military division).^[4] In the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a Member of the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire,^[5] and he was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rugby, in the 2006 New Year Honours.^[6]

Te Pou's son, also called Matt Te Pou, played international rugby for Tonga.^[7]

References

1. "Matt Te Pou". Huia. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
2. "LBdr Matthew John Te Pou". Memories of New Zealand and the Vietnam War. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
3. Kitson, Rob (13 June 2005). "O'Connell vows Maori mauling won't happen again". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
4. "No. 49010". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 12 June 1982. p. 43.
5. "No. 51774". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 17 June 1989. p. 35.
6. "New Year honours list 2006". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2005. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
7. Te Pou, Matt; McIlraith, Matt (2006). Against the Odds: Matt Te Pou and Maori Rugby. Wellington: Huia. p. 99. ISBN 1-86969-251-9. Retrieved 26 August 2020.