Derry can claim to be represented in this season's Six Nations

Derry can claim to have a representative in the Six Nations when the tournament kicks off on Friday, January 31.

While many may expect that representation to come from the Irish squad, that is not the case.

It actually comes in the form of Matt Gallagher, who has been called up to the Italian squad for the competition.

Gallagher is the grandson of a Derry man who emigrated to England with his father looking for work.

Matt said: “He came over to London from Derry at maybe 15 years old to find work with his dad, so he was only in Derry for his childhood. When he moved over, he stayed in London.

“When my granny moved over, she was very young, about 18 years old, to be a nurse, so they met in London, and they only came back to Ireland when they were about 60, but they spent the majority of their life living in London, where my dad and his brothers grew up. 

“They moved back to Limerick because that is where Granny was from, so whenever I went to Ireland on holiday or to visit them, it was always to Limerick, so I haven’t actually got to visit Derry or see a lot of it, but I would love to visit and to see where my grandad was from and grew up.

“I know my dad has a full family tree, so I actually know what to do. I just haven’t been able to do it right now, so maybe in the future I will do that.”

Matt’s grandfather sadly passed away 21 years ago; however, he could proudly watch on as his son, John Gallagher, was a key part of the New Zealand side that lifted the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987.

The Gallagher family loves making history in rugby, as Matt was part of the first-ever Benetton Treviso side to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions Cup, as they secured victory at the weekend over Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle.

He said: “Being in this competition is what it is all about.

“At Benetton we want to be in these competitions and to play the best teams. I think the boys showed last year, and we have shown at times this year that we can compete with these strong teams. We are really relishing the challenge.”

The Italian club have been drawn away to Castres in their maiden Round of 16 fixture, but Matt will turn his attention to his debut Six Nations with his competition kicking off on Saturday, February 1.

Italy kicks off their tournament in Edinburgh away to Scotland, looking to build on their impressive showing last year, the Azzurri’s best performance since joining the competition in 2000.

Matt said: “I think we have a good opportunity to do well, but we have got to keep ourselves humble, as it will be hard work; we know it is not just going to be given to us.

“For us, we just need to keep getting better than our last performance, and hopefully that will be good enough to win some games. Obviously, we did well in the last Six Nations, the best Six Nations I think we have had, and we are just looking to improve on that because when we play, we play with ambition and no fear.

“We have got a really good squad; boys have a lot of experience now and a good crop of young players as well coming into their own, so it is a really exciting time. 

“I am really excited to be involved and hopefully get some game time.”