A late starter in rugby as a 14 year old, Matty Dalton’s original passion was athletics where he excelled in the demanding discipline of Pentathlon, achieving representation at Ireland schools level. This power and athleticism combined with Matty’s physical size made the transition to rugby an easy one and a mere four years later he joined the Ulster academy. This phenomenal transformation from track and field was endorsed by his debut for Ulster after having just turned 19, five years after picking up a rugby ball for the first time.
At 6’6” and 115kg with the bulk and power to play second row and the athleticism to play backrow there is versatility in a matchday squad. Having been clocked at 9.4ms on GPS it is Matty’s devastating combination of speed and raw power that makes him such an exciting prospect. Having double digit Pro 14 caps for Ulster Rugby whilst still in the academy demonstrates the huge strides already made in establishing himself as a regular for Ulster and moving towards his ultimate ambition of playing for Ireland.
