Matt McCullough (born 9 September 1981) is a former Irish

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, who played in the second row for

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and

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 ...

McCullough was educated at

Ballymena Academy Ballymena Academy is a mixed gender, voluntary Grammar schools in the United Kingdom, grammar school in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1828 as a small provincial school for children in the tow ...

, captaining the school's 1st XV to the 2000

Ulster Schools' Cup The Ulster Schools' Challenge Cup is an annual competition involving schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The Schools' Cup has the distinction of being the world's second-oldest rugby competition, having be ...

final, and represented Ulster and Ireland at schools level. He was named Ulster Schools Player of the Year in the 2000 Ulster Rugby Awards. He studied at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, but left when he was offered a contract at Ulster in 2001, and continued his studies at the

University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

at Jordanstown. He made his first appearance for Ulster against

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

in the 2001–02 season, but saw little action in his early seasons with the province, while turning out for

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...

in the All-Ireland League and captaining the Ireland under-21 team. He made 21 appearances, including 17 start, for Ulster in the 2003–04 season, and 26 appearances, including 25 starts, in the 2004–05 season, and his form was rewarded with selection for the 2005 Ireland tour of Japan. He won two caps on that tour, and two more against

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 ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the 2005 autumn internationals. In the 2005–06 season he made 23 appearances, all starts, for Ulster as they won the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places pa ...

. In the summer of 2006, after playing for Ireland A in the

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada national rugby union team, Canada, England Saxons, England, the United States national rugby union te ...

, he was badly injured in a car crash in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

, sustaining a deep head wound, and credits teammates Andy Maxwell and Roger Wilson with helping to save his life.Mark Tighe
"Rugby star in legal scrum with IRFU"
''The Sunday Times'', 28 June 2015Gavin Mairs, "McCullough: Roger and Maxy saved my life", ''Belfast Telegraph'', 6 October 2006

References

External links

* 1981 births Living people Ulster Rugby players Ballymena R.F.C. players Dublin University Football Club players Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Rugby union locks People educated at Ballymena Academy {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub