Matthew Abramo Gallagher (born 26 October 1996) is a professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player for

Benetton Rugby Benetton Rugby, also known as Benetton Treviso ( or ), is an Italian professional rugby union team based in Treviso, Veneto which competes in the United Rugby Championship, the European Rugby Challenge Cup and European Rugby Champions Cup, Europ ...

in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

. His primary position is fullback, though can also play on either

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

. Gallagher's father is John Gallagher, who won the

1987 Rugby World Cup The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches (17 pool stage matches, two semi-finals, the third-place play-off and the final) while Australia hosted 11 mat ...

with

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Born in England, Gallagher plays internationally for

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

who he qualifies for through his mother.

Professional career

Gallagher made his senior competitive debut for

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

in the

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

against Welsh side Ospreys in November 2014. He was voted the Saracens Academy Player of the Year following strong performances for Saracens Storm during the 2015–16 Premiership Rugby A-League, as well as helping loan club Old Albanian secure promotion to

National League 1 National One, up until 2023 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 Lea ...

after winning the 2015–16 National League 2 South play-offs. He joined

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a semi-professional rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in the RFU Championship. History Foundation and 19th century Bedford RUFC was founded in 1886 after an amalgamation between Bedford Rove ...

as a dual-registered player ahead of the 2016–17 RFU Championship season, though he was soon called into action for Saracens. Gallagher joined Irish

side

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

on a two-year contract from the 2020–21 season, and made his competitive debut for the province in their

2020–21 Pro14 The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the ''P ...

round two fixture against Scottish side

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 10 October 2020, which Munster won 25–23. Gallagher scored his first tries for Munster in their 28–16 win against

Dragons A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depict ...

on 1 November 2020. Gallagher returned to England to join

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

club

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, where Munster head coach Johann van Graan and defence coach JP Ferreira also joined, ahead of the 2022–23 season. His last appearance for Bath saw him start in the 2024 Premiership final which they lost against

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

to finish runners up. Gallagher signed with Italian

club Benetton a three-year contract from the 2024–25 season. He made his debut in Round 2 of the 2024–25 season against the

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

International career

Matt Gallagher is eligible for Italy due to a maternal grandparent. Through his father, former New Zealand international

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, Gallagher is qualified to play for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, as his paternal grandfather and grandmother are from

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

and

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

respectively, but not New Zealand, for whom John qualified through residency. He is also eligible for England, having been born there. Gallagher represented the nation of his birth at youth level. He was selected for England under-20 at the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship and started in the 45–21 win against

in the final as England lifted the trophy. Gallagher was included in the Italy squad for their

2024 mid-year rugby union tests The 2024 mid-year rugby union internationals (also known as the summer internationals in the Northern Hemisphere) are international rugby union matches mostly played in the Southern Hemisphere during the July international window. Series and tours ...

. On 5 July 2024 he made his debut for

starting at fullback against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

at Apia Park.

References

External links

Munster ProfileSaracens Profile
* *
URC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Matt 1996 births Living people People from Sidcup Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players Italian British rugby union players Bath Rugby players Bedford Blues players Benetton Rugby players Munster Rugby players Saracens F.C. players English people of Italian descent English rugby union players English expatriate rugby union players Rugby union players from the London Borough of Bexley Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings