Matt Philip

Matt Philip (born 7 March 1994) is an Australian rugby union footballer who currently plays as a lock for the Melbourne Rebels. He previously played for the Western Force and also the Perth Spirit in Australia's National Rugby Championship.

Philip previously played for the Sydney Stars in 2014 and 2015, and joined for the Mitre 10 Cup in 2016.

Early life
Philip hails from New South Wales and represented Australia at schoolboy level in 2012, and under-20 level in 2014.

Rugby career
Philip initially made his way in the game turning out for Sydney University in the Shute Shield where his form earned him a call-up to the Sydney Stars squad ahead of the inaugural National Rugby Championship in 2014. He made 15 appearances for the Stars across two seasons and scored two tries in that time.

Philip's rise to the Super Rugby level was a swift one as an injury crisis in the Force's second row saw him cross Australia from Sydney to Perth to train with them during the 2016 mid-year rugby union internationals break. He was subsequently named in the Force's squad for their two-match tour of South Africa and debuted as an early blood replacement for Rory Walton in the game against the in Bloemfontein. He made three substitute appearances in total during the 2016 Super Rugby season. Later in 2016, he joined in the Mitre 10 Cup.

In 2017, Philip was a first-choice starter at lock for the Force. After his strong performances for Perth Spirit in the NRC, he was invited into the Barbarians team to play Australia in Sydney, and then selected the Australian squad for the 2017 Wallabies tour. He made his test debut for Australia in the team's win against on 4 November 2017, replacing lock Adam Coleman in the second half.