Matthew Phillips is an New Zealand-born Italian rugby union footballer. His usual position is at Number 8.

Phillips had played for New Zealand national rugby union U-21 team when he moved to play for Rugby Viadana, in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, where he would stay from 1999/2000 to 2005/2006. He won the Italian Championship in 2001/02 and the Cup of Italy in 1999/2000 and 2002/03. He had to leave competition due to a injury, but returned to play for Amatori Capoterra, in February 2010.

He became an Italian citizen in 2002, deciding to represent Italy

Italy national rugby union team

The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...

. He had 14 caps, scoring 3 tries, 15 points in aggregate, from 2002 to 2003. He was a part of their squad at the 2003 Rugby World Cup

2003 Rugby World Cup

The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

 in Australia, playing two games and scoring one try. He played twice at the Six Nations Championship

Six Nations Championship

The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....

, in 2002 and 2003.

Phillips made his international debut for Italy in 2002 against France

France national rugby union team

The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

, at 2 February 2002, in a 33-12 loss, in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, for the 2002 Six Nations Championship

2002 Six Nations Championship

The 2002 Six Nations Championship was the third series of the Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-eighth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship...

. He became a regular in the Italian Test side, and in 2003 was included in their World Cup squad for Australia. He played in Italy's opening match against the All Blacks

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, where he scored a try.

External links

• 6 Nations profile
• Matthew Phillips on rwc2003.irb.com
• Matthew Phillips International Statistics