Matthew Brendan Perry (born 27 January 1977 in

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

) is an English former

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 fullback for

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 ...

. He played internationally for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

Youth and early career

A cricketer, at

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding s ...

Perry captained a side including

Ben Hollioake Benjamin Caine Hollioake (11 November 1977 – 23 March 2002) was an English cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club and the England cricket team The England men's cricket team represents cricket in England, England and cricket ...

, later an England international. He made his debut for Bath's first team towards the end of the amateur era in December 1995. Perry went to South Africa to play for the Durban Crusaders' under-21 side for four months in 1996. This caused him to give up a place at

University College, Cardiff Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

. On returning to the UK, Perry rejoined Bath. He played 221 times for the club before retiring in 2007. He played in eight of Bath's nine matches in their winning

1997–98 Heineken Cup The 1997–98 Heineken Cup was the third edition of the Heineken Cup European 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 Euro ...

campaign, being omitted only from the final against Brive in Bordeaux in favour of

Jon Callard Jonathan Edward Brooks Callard (born 1 January 1966, in Leicester) is a coach at the Rugby Football Union's National Academy. He formerly played rugby union at fullback for Bath and England. He is the brother of ex-Newport RFC player Nigel Call ...

, where he was named as a replacement.

England rugby

England coach

Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach (sport), coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 Britis ...

, selected Perry for his first match in charge against

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 autumn 1997. Perry was awarded Man of the Match on his debut. In the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

's 1997/98 awards, Perry was recognised as the young player of the year. In 1998, Perry went on England's "Tour to Hell" of Australia,

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

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. During the 76–0 defeat by Australia, he played out of position at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. He was part of England's squad for the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

. Aged 23, Perry beat

Jonathan Webb Jonathan Mark Webb (born 24 August 1963 in London, England) is a specialist knee surgeon and former English rugby union fullback. Webb played for the England national team from 1987 to 1993, reaching the 1991 World Cup Final and winning two Fi ...

's record to become England's most capped full back with 35 caps in the position, a record that has since been overtaken by Mike Brown. He went on to score 10 tries for England. A

back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral c ...

injury saw him dropped from the England squad for

Iain Balshaw Iain Robert Balshaw, MBE (born 18 April 1979) is an English former rugby union player who played on the wing or at full back for Bath, Leeds Carnegie, Gloucester and Biarritz Olympique. He won 35 international caps for England between 2000 ...

; he later made way for both Jason Robinson and

Josh Lewsey Owen Joshua Lewsey MBE (born 30 November 1976) is an English former rugby union player who represented England and the British and Irish Lions. Lewsey is a former British Army Officer. Background and early life Lewsey was born in Bromley, Lo ...

. Perry made his last appearance for the England senior team in 2001 when he played against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Perry subsequently went on the

2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia The 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a series of matches played by the British & Irish Lions rugby union team in Australia. The Lions squad was captain (sport), captained by Martin Johnson (rugby union), Martin Johnson, the firs ...

, playing in all three tests.

Later career

Perry continued to play for Bath after his final England appearance, but was plagued by injuries. He was forced to withdraw from the 2004 Zurich Premiership final due to a calf strain sustained in the pre-match warm-up.

Retirement

A bulging

disc Disc or disk may refer to: * Disk (mathematics), a two dimensional shape, the interior of a circle * Disk storage * Optical disc * Floppy disk Music * Disc (band), an American experimental music band * ''Disk'' (album), a 1995 EP by Moby Other ...

in Perry's back resulted in spasms and sciatic damage in his left leg, and he retired from playing rugby on 27 March 2007. On ending his rugby career, he was reported to be joining a consultancy company. He is the founder and director of the company Transition 15.

Family

Perry's father Brendan and grandfather Idris also played for Bath. One of Perry's grandmothers was from the town of

Ballyhaunis Ballyhaunis () is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is at the crossroads of the N60 and N83 National secondary roads and on the railway line linking Dublin to Westport and Ballina. Ballyhaunis is within both the Roman Catholic and civil pa ...

in County Mayo, Ireland. He has two sons.

Charitable support

Perry is proud ambassador of

Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance Charity Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance Charity is a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) serving Wiltshire, Bath and surrounding areas of England. The service was launched in 1990, and since 2015 has been run as a registered charity. Histor ...

References

External links

Profile
at Bath Rugby Heritage {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Matt 1977 births Living people People educated at Millfield Rugby union players from Bath, Somerset English rugby union players Bath Rugby players England international rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England English people of Irish descent People educated at Millfield Preparatory School 1999 Rugby World Cup players