Mathew John Protheroe (born 10 October 1996) is a Welsh

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays as a fly-half or fullback for

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

. Born in Swansea, he was educated at

Hartpury College Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education which describes itself as specialising in the "agriculture, animal, equine, sport and veterinary nursing" sectors. The university a ...

in Gloucestershire, and was praised for his performances for Hartpury RFC in the 2014–15 season, scoring seven tries in 14 appearances in

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

. He made his Aviva Premiership A League debut for Gloucester against the Sale Jets in January 2015 at the age of 18. On 27 May 2015, Protheroe signed his first professional contract with

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

, despite attraction from other top Premiership clubs. However, he left early by mutual agreement to join local rivals

Bristol Rugby Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

in the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

from the 2017–18 season. On 22 February 2015, Protheroe was selected for England U18s, qualifying for England age group sides by virtue of playing for an English club, despite having no family or residential qualification for England. He produced a man-of-the-match performance in their 21–5 victory over France. On 26 February 2020, the

announced the signing of Protheroe from Bristol for the 2020–21 season.

References

External links

Bristol Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Protheroe, Matt 1996 births Living people Alumni of Hartpury College Bristol Bears players Gloucester Rugby players Rugby union players from Swansea Welsh rugby union players Ospreys (rugby union) players Rugby union fly-halves