Matthew James Sutherland Dawson, MBE (born 31 October 1972) is an English retired rugby union player who played scrum half for Northampton Saints and then London Wasps.

During his international career he toured with the British & Irish Lions three times and was part of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup winning side.

Since retiring, Dawson has become a team captain on A Question of Sport besides appearing on various reality shows and is a commentator and presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live's rugby programme.

In the first test with ten minutes to go, Dawson broke from the base of a scrum and threw an overhead dummy that checked the four Springboks allowing him to scamper in for the winning try.

He became first-choice scrum half at the 1999 Rugby World Cup after Bracken's withdrawal due to injury and scored England's first try of the competition just eight minutes into the opening match, a 67–7 win, against Italy.

Controversially however, Dawson was one of the mid-week sides opposed to the training regime of coach Graham Henry and publicly criticised him, although this did not cause as much stir as Healey's similar comments.

[16] Dawson's career nearly ended after sustaining a neck injury during the record 53–3 win against South Africa in November 2002, when he was headbutted by Springbok skipper Corné Krige.

A return to the 2005 Six Nations was expected and Dawson rejoined the Elite Player Squad for the tournament, playing well enough to earn a place on the 2005 British Lions tour to New Zealand, managed by Sir Clive Woodward.

Dawson returned to the England fold in 2005 but had limited opportunities in a disappointing Six Nations campaign as Harry Ellis started at number nine for four of the five matches.

In 2004 Dawson joined the long running BBC TV quiz show A Question of Sport, featuring as a regular team captain opposite Ally McCoist and subsequently, Phil Tufnell.

[20] In September 2006 he appeared in BBC One's Celebrity MasterChef programme, beating Roger Black and Hardeep Singh Kohli, to win the final.

In January 2007 it was announced that Dawson would be joining BBC Radio Five Live as summariser for the commentary on England's forthcoming Six Nations Championship games.

In 2023 Dawson was a contestant on Richard Osman's House of Games, alongside Malorie Blackman, Chris McCausland and Ranvir Singh.

He is an Honorary President of the rugby charity Wooden Spoon improving the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in Britain and Ireland.