Matt Philip (born 7 March 1994) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

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 it ...

footballer who currently plays as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for the

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

. He previously played for the Western Force and also the

Perth Spirit Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is p ...

in Australia's

National Rugby Championship The National Rugby Championship, known as NRC, was an Australian rugby union competition. It was contested by eight teams, seven from Australia and one from Fiji. The tournament ran from 2014 until 2019 before being disbanded in 2020 following t ...

. Philip previously played for the Sydney Stars in 2014 and 2015, and joined for the

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

in 2016.

Early life

Philip hails from

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and represented Australia at schoolboy level in 2012, and under-20 level in 2014.

Rugby career

Philip initially made his way in the game turning out for Sydney University in the

Shute Shield The Shute Shield is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team from the Sydney premiership grand final held at the end ...

where his form earned him a call-up to the Sydney Stars squad ahead of the inaugural National Rugby Championship in 2014. He made 15 appearances for the Stars across two seasons and scored two tries in that time. Philip's rise to the Super Rugby level was a swift one as an injury crisis in the Force's second row saw him cross Australia from Sydney to Perth to train with them during the

2016 mid-year rugby union internationals Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

break. He was subsequently named in the Force's squad for their two-match tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and debuted as an early blood replacement for Rory Walton in the game against the in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

. He made three substitute appearances in total during the 2016 Super Rugby season. Later in 2016, he joined in the

. In 2017, Philip was a first-choice starter at lock for the Force. After his strong performances for

in the NRC, he was invited into the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

team to play Australia in Sydney, and then selected the

squad for the 2017 Wallabies tour. He made his test debut for Australia in the team's win against on 4 November 2017, replacing lock

Adam Coleman Adam Coleman (born 7 October 1991) is an Australian rugby union player living in England who plays lock for London Irish in the Gallagher Premiership. Career Coleman attended New Town High School in Hobart Tasmania. He represented Tasmania in u ...

in the second half.

Super Rugby statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philip, Matt 1994 births Living people Australia international rugby union players Australian rugby union players Perth Spirit players Rugby union locks Western Force players Sydney Stars players Southland rugby union players Australian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Melbourne Rebels players Melbourne Rising players Expatriate rugby union players in France Section Paloise players Rugby union players from New South Wales