Where are they now? Matthew Cooper
The ex All Black, proud Mooloo and now NZ Rugby vice president reckons it was a hit on him that earnt Brian Lima his famed “Chiropractor” nickname. He talks to
Matthew Cooper played 26 matches (eight tests and 18 games) for the All Blacks between 1987-94, and won the NPC title in 1992 and three Ranfurly Shield contests with Waikato.
Post-playing, Cooper moved into administration, serving as Sport Waikato chief executive since 2001. In 2022, he was elected NZ Rugby vice president.
You scored a then-world record 23 points on test debut against Ireland at Athletic Park in 1992? What stands out?
I remember the aura of seeing that All Black jersey with the fern staring at me in that hotel room. The day was a true Wellington southerly and I’m playing fullback in my first test and it was a shocker weather-wise.
The other memory that sticks out was the uniqueness of replacing your brother [Greg Cooper] at fullback for the second test against the Irish [Greg started the first test at fullback at Carisbrook]. Proud, terrible day weather-wise, and the uniqueness of replacing your brother.
What do you rate as your best memory in the All Blacks jersey?
I was the goal-kicker on the 1993 tour to England and Scotland and that was really neat.
I got into the second five position alongside Frank Bunce and was goal kicking and it was going well. It was a good tour...
That tour I felt comfortable. The danger for any new aspirational All Black is you try and emulate. I realised then ‘you’ve been picked for what you do back home – just be that person and be yourself, be who you are, kick how you’ve always kicked and just focus on those little things’. That’s when it started to really go well for me.
Who were the hardest hitters you hated seeing line you up on defence?
I was lucky enough to play with him [at Waikato], but he also played with Otago before that, that was Rhys Ellison. He was my midfield partner and Rhys was a big hitter. Marty Berry, he was out of Wairarapa Bush, and Marty was a big defensive tackler as well in the midfield.
The other big one was [Auckland’s] Brian Lima. He got his nickname “The Chiropractor” and I still think I was the initiator. I remember playing at Rugby Park [in Hamilton], I came in from fullback, he’s a right winger. I came in from fullback and it missed centre from my second five, we did a bit of a loopy pass. It went high in the air and I stretched up to get it and I got hit by Brian Lima. I was just standing there holding my knees for about three or four minutes trying to get my wind back. That’s where he got the nickname, “The Chiropractor”.
What do you cherish most about playing for that dominant Waikato side of the 1990s?
The highlight for me here in Waikato in the 90s was we were really parochial. Very parochial and our fans, the Waikato fans, and probably what the Waikato rugby team in the 90s meant to them.
We knew when we performed it was going to be a good week in the Waikato region, we made people happy. That’s one of the lasting things. When you see people and they say they remember the 1992 final, or the 1993 epic up in Auckland in front of 48,000, they talk about it still today, ‘I was there’. You made local people happy.
What’s the best thing about being Sport Waikato CEO?
I actually don’t consider it a job. Our mandate with our great people is to lead and drive movement, get people active across the region.
Every Monday can be different for me. I’ve got awesome people. I’ve got an awesome organisation who are prepared to be brave and change and have changed over the years to repurpose itself.
I’ve got an outstanding board and staff. It’s probably the continuation of a love of sport that I’m fortunate enough to call it a job, which is a word I don’t usually use.
What are the biggest challenges facing community sport today?
When our economy is going through some challenging times, the cost to play is a challenge now. I think we’ve got to be a little bit mindful about the cost to play, where you play, your length of competition, because our young people have got options.
Season length is a big thing for me, saying have we got the right structure of holding somebody for three months? Is the competition structure affordable in terms of the way it’s set out around time and travel?
If the experience is bad what we’ve noticed now in 2024 is with pressure on mum and dad for cost and the pressure on them in terms on Saturdays to be involved and travel, we can lose our numbers. That’s a general threat.
How did a proud Waikato man like you end up at the Highlanders in the first season of Super Rugby in 1996?
I missed out [on the Chiefs]. You had the likes of Frank Bunce, Walter Little, Warren Burton, the very good fullback, Glen Osborne, and Brad Meurant was the coach and I legitimately missed the cut. I had a heavily pregnant wife carrying Harrison our first and I got a call in January and it was [Highlanders coach] Gordon Hunter, the late great Gordon Hunter.
He said, ‘How would you like to come down and become a southern man?’.
I thought this is weird because Greg [Cooper] got pulled in to play for the Blues in 1996.
I was a drafted player, I got drafted down to become Highlander No 4. It was special.
Speight’s or Waikato Draught?
Even though I had a couple [of Speight’s down there] she’s always been and I’m still very much a Waikato Draught man. I’m not a craft man, I can’t touch that. [Waikato Draught] it’s a nice bitter draught beer. Waikato or Speight’s are pretty similar, but I would always go the green.
How did you end up playing a test for Croatia against Italy alongside Frano Botica in 1998?
My grandparents came over in the late 1920s from then Yugoslavia. My late mum had really educated us and got us well informed about Croatia. I thought if this was what rugby could do, rugby could create another special memory.
That memory, to not only play for the birthplace of my grandparents, but also my mum, was so deeply entrenched and had never been to Croatia before I did.
Most of the team and I went way up into the mountains to visit the villages of where my grandparents were born and they all knew this...
The significance was if we had beaten Italy they were out of World Cup 1999 [qualification] and we were heading to play the Irish at Lansdowne Road. (Italy held on to win 39-29).