Viliame Mata


Viliame Sevaka Mata is a Fijian rugby union player. He is currently playing for Scotland based Guinness Pro14 side Edinburgh Rugby. He made his debut for at the 2014 Wellington Sevens.
Since joining Edinburgh Rugby, Mata has been affectionately known as "Big Bill" Mata owing to his power and ability to break through defences.

Career

Mata was born and raised in Nauluvatau, a small village in Nakelo, Tailevu and was selected by Ben Ryan to represent the Fiji sevens team to the 2014 Wellington Sevens as a replacement for Pio Tuwai.
Mata is a former professional rugby league footballer who went on to play for champion local 7's side, Davetalevu. He studied at Suva Grammar School before moving to Ratu Kadavulevu School.
Mata made the final Fiji squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
In July 2016, Mata signed for Pro12 side, Edinburgh for two-years and he joined the side after helping Fiji win Gold at the Olympics but his visa-expired a year later as he was not capped internationally for Fiji and visas for player not capped by Kolpak countries were only for a year, he had to return to Fiji and get capped by the Fiji 15's team. He made his test debut against Australia on June 10 playing off the bench. He played 3 more tests for Fiji off the bench which allowed him to lodge a visa application to extend his visa to Scotland. He returned to Scotland in September 2017 and became a regular starter for the team.
In December 2017, he signed an extension to stay at Edinburgh Rugby until 2020. At the end of the 2018/19 Pro14 season, Mata was named the Guinness PRO14 the Players’ Player of the Season.