Get to know more about Mat Protheroe ahead of the new season here.
I think my dream job would probably be as an F1 driver… I’d love to be that. My heart says I would want to drive for Mercedes but I’d probably wanna go for Red Bull. Driving with Max Verstappen, that would be class.
I probably would like to play 7. I know it’s a really hard position but I just think it’s a lot of fun. As it is, it’s probably the most fun position in the forwards from a back’s perspective, because you get to try and take the ball off everyone, tackle everyone… and a lot of the boys I’ve come across in the 7 seem to be the best players in the field anyway.
Motocross. Me and my brother ride bikes. We do that quite a bit. Apart from that really, I just like to get out and about, I’m like quite outdoorsy. Down at the beach, walking my dog… he takes up a lot of my time.
Pasta Carbonara. You cannot go wrong with pasta Carbonara, however, it’s got to be done right. If it isn’t done right, then it is hangin’.
Probably not to stress as much. You know… just like worrying about. But it’s easy to say now, you know, looking back… but that would be my biggest advice. Just enjoy what you’re doing and, you know, if you work hard – as cliché as it sounds – but if you work hard, doors will open for you, and if you keep doing it, you’ll find yourself in the right place. If I have my time again when I was like 14, 15, 16, playing rugby, I’ll just tell myself to enjoy it. Don’t worry about it if you’re not gonna get picked up at 16. You know, I didn’t. It ended up coming when I was 18. Other boys didn’t till 20-21. So just not to stress as much and trust the process.
Favourite moment from last season has got to be beating Scarlets at home. That was a big one, but we had a few of them… the Ulster win at home, the Munster win at home, the Edinburgh win at home… they were massive for us. But, I think, yeah, when we beat the Scarlets at home and then the week later we ended up winning the Welsh shield because the results went our way… so, I think, that Scarlets game was by far the favourite.
I’m looking forward to kicking on. I think, we’ve put ourselves in a good position from where we were last season and it’s largely the same playing group… we’ve had one or two additions but I think all the boys know more what we are about and looking forward to developing that further. Obviously, with the relationships that we’ve got with each other now, it should be easier to transfer that from the training field onto the pitch.
