Matthew Healy (born 14 March 1989) is an Irish former professional

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. His primary position was on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

and he was also used as injury cover at fullback, while earlier in his career he played at scrum-half. Healy played his entire career for Irish provincial team

Connacht Rugby Connacht Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Connachta) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Con ...

in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

at test level once. He is Connacht's all-time leading try scorer.

Early life

Originally from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Healy is a former student of

Gonzaga College Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Irela ...

Ranelagh Ranelagh ( , ; ) is an affluent residential area and urban village on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district of D06. History The district was originally a village known as Cullenswood just outside Dublin, surrounded by lande ...

. He played for the school's rugby team in the 2007 Leinster Senior Cup, starting at scrum-half as the team were knocked out by reigning champions

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a Enterprise risk management, risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackR ...

. Also on the Gonzaga starting team for the game was future Ireland international

Dominic Ryan Dominic Ryan (born 28 March 1990) is an Irish former professional rugby union player who last played for Leicester Tigers. He was a back row player, playing at predominantly openside or blindside flanker. During his first year in the Leinster a ...

Career

Club

Healy joined Connacht in 2012 from the amateur club

Lansdowne Lansdowne or Lansdown may refer to: People * Lansdown Guilding (1797–1831), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines naturalist and engraver *Fenwick Lansdowne (1937–2008), Canadian wildlife artist * George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) ...

in the All-Ireland League. In his first season, Healy primarily played for the Connacht Eagles, the province's second tier or 'A' team, in the

British and Irish Cup The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009 ...

. At the end of the season Healy was named Connacht's A player of the year. Along with his appearances for the Eagles, he also played in 3 games for the senior side in the

2012–13 Pro12 The 2012–13 Pro12 League (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of the rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the third with its current 12-team format, and the second with Ra ...

. In his second season with the province, Healy featured more regularly for Connacht's first team. He scored his first try for the team against

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

on 7 September 2013 in the first game of that year's Pro12. He made his European debut in a

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

match on 19 October that year, also against Zebre away in the Stadio XXV Aprile. Later that month, Healy signed a new contract with the province to keep him there at least until summer 2016. Healy's first try in the Heineken Cup came in the reverse fixture in the Sportsground on 11 January 2014, when he gave a man of the match display. Healy continued to be a regular for the province. In 2015–16, he finished as the joint top try-scorer in the Pro12 and was named in the league's Dream Team. On 28 May 2016, Healy started for Connacht against Leinster in the

2016 Pro12 Grand Final The 2016 Pro12 Grand Final was the final match of the 2015–16 Pro12 season. The 2015–16 season was the second with Guinness as the title sponsor and the seventh ever League Grand Final. The final was played between Leinster and Connacht. C ...

. He scored a try in a 20–10 victory for the side, which earned Connacht their first ever title. Healy made his 100th appearance for Connacht on 6 January 2018, in an interprovincial derby against

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. Later in the season, he scored two tries for Connacht in a 26–25 defeat to the Cheetahs, taking him past

Fionn Carr Fionn Carr (born 17 December 1985) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays primarily as a wing but can also play at fullback. Carr played most of his professional career for Irish province Connacht in the Pro12. He also played for another Ir ...

as the province's all-time top try-scorer.

International

Healy has represented Ireland internationally, having played for the Irish Under-20 team. He made a total of 9 appearances for the side, and went to the

2009 IRB Junior World Championship The 2009 IRB Junior World Championship (known as the 2009 IRB Toshiba Junior World Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the second annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaces the now def ...

having also played in the 2009 Six Nations Under 20s Championship. In 2015, Healy was named in the

Emerging Ireland Emerging Ireland is an Irish rugby union team that represents Ireland in the World Rugby Nations Cup. History 2013 Tbilisi Cup The team was created to offer Tier 1 level opposition for Tier 2 sides in the IRB Tbilisi Cup, held in Tbilisi, Georgia ...

squad for the 2015 Tbilisi Cup. Healy received his first call up to the senior

squad on 2 June 2016 for the tour to South Africa. He made his debut in the third test, coming on as a replacement for his Connacht teammate Tiernan O'Halloran.

References

External links

Pro12 profile

EPCR profile

Connacht profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Healy, Matt Living people 1989 births Connacht Rugby players Ireland international rugby union players Irish rugby union players Lansdowne Football Club players Rugby union players from Dublin (city) People educated at Gonzaga College Rugby union wings