Matt Worley (born 6 September 1997) 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 currently playing for the Hong Kong China Rugby. He previously played for

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 ...

in the

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. He plays at the fullback and

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positions. Since 2016 Worley has competed for Hong Kong at international level. First with the under-20 side in the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

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World Rugby U20 Trophy The World Rugby Under 20 Trophy (known as the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy until 2014) is an international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 8 men's junior national tea ...

, before making his debut for the Hong Kong senior side in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Background

Worley moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

aged five due to his father's work commitments. He began playing rugby in the Hong Kong Football Club's Mini Rugby programme. He attended

South Island School South Island School is a private international school founded by the English Schools Foundation of Hong Kong, located at 50 Nam Fung Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong, with about 1,400 students enrolled and 107 teachers. Students come from diverse b ...

where he played secondary school rugby. Appearing for Hong Kong at age group level, he played the majority of his junior career at

scrum half Scrum may refer to: * Autozam Scrum, a microvan and pickup truck sold in Japan by Mazda * Line of scrimmage, line separating football teams before a play * Media scrum, an impromptu press conference, often held immediately outside an event such a ...

. Worley represented Hong Kong at under 16, 18 and under 20 level.

Club career

Whilst playing junior and schools rugby in Hong Kong, Worley was offered the opportunity to spend four weeks with Racing 92. Primarily a PR stunt, the arrangement was facilitated by joint sponsor for Racing 92 and the Hong Kong Football Club Rugby Section,

Natixis BPCE (for Banque Populaire Caisse d'Epargne) is a major French banking group formed by the 2009 merger of two major retail banking groups, Groupe Caisse d'Épargne and Groupe Banque Populaire. As of 2021, it was France's fourth-largest bank, t ...

. The youngster quickly impressed and stayed with Racing 92 on an academy contract. He moved from scrum half to full back after language barriers prevented him from effectively managing the 9 position. Worley featured for the Racing Espoirs during their title winning under-23's French league campaign. His success with the Racing development team earned him his first senior contract with the club in 2017. Worley's senior debut came during Racing's Natixis Rugby Cup bout against Cell C Sharks. Racing lost the game, 31–14. In May 2018, it was announced that Worley had signed to the

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. ...

senior academy. He made his senior debut for the club in a game against

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

in the

Premiership Rugby Cup The Premiership Rugby Cup is an English rugby union knockout cup competition for teams in Premiership Rugby and from the 2023–24 season the RFU Championship. It was created in 2018 to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup after the withdrawal of the Wels ...

. His debut makes Worley the 1998th Northampton Saint. In March 2019, it was announced that Worley will leave

. During the 2018/2019 season Worley was dual registered with

where he made 8 appearances scoring 5 tries. In March 2019, it was announced that Worley had signed with

ahead of the 2019/2020 season. Making over 100 appearances for the club, Worley established himself as one of the league’s top finishers.

notably achieved a second-place finish in the

in the 2024–25 season, their highest league standing since 2012. On 18 May 2025, it was announced that Worley would depart

to return to Hong Kong China Rugby in pursuit of a place in the national squad for the 2027

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

in Australia. Following his return, Worley helped Hong Kong China Rugby secure qualification after winning the Asia Rugby Emirates Championship for a sixth consecutive time. He finished as the competition’s top try scorer for Hong Kong China Rugby, scoring five tries in three matches. As of 2025, Worley holds an international test record of 17 tries in 15 appearances, marking him as one of the leading scorers for the Hong Kong national team.

References

External links

Northampton Saints Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worley, Matt 1997 births Living people English rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings Northampton Saints players Rugby union players from Plymouth, Devon English emigrants to Hong Kong Hong Kong rugby union players Hong Kong expatriate sportspeople in France Hong Kong expatriate rugby union players English expatriate rugby union players in France Hong Kong international rugby union players Racing 92 players