The recently concluded Asia Rugby Under 19 Championship saw Hong Kong emerging the undisputed winner massacring the best of Sri Lanka in their encounter and later clinching the valuable silverware.
If you did have the time to follow ThePapare’s live coverage from the Under 19 Championships, you wouldn’t have missed the nearly 6 foot tall Hong Kong’s fullback running his lines, creating chances and later ending up taking the responsibility of place kicking for the team. The 19-year-old versatile three-quarter player just made his entrance back to the international stage having completed a short stint in training at Racing 92 which is France’s front-runner rugby club that also features greats such as Dan Carter and Joe Rockocoko.
Worley, scoring 2 tries, 15 conversions, 7 penalties and amassing a total of 61 points in 3 games became the highest points scorer for the concluded Asia Rugby U19 Championship. He contributed immensely to Hong Kong’s success and to getting their ticket to the World Rugby Junior Trophy. From being an ordinary football player who played club football, Worley has evolved to be an emerging youth star on the brink of an international entrance.
His excellent performance in the junior local circuit got him the opportunity to make a trip to France to train with the Racing 92 Rugby Academy for a short two-month stint and his skills-set forced the French club to sign a two-year training contract with the 19-year-old.
We caught up with Matthew Worley to get to know about his sojourn in the Hong Kong shirt and about the Racing 92 dream in France.
The British-born Worley has called Hong Kong home since the day he moved in when he was 5 years old and he confesses that his first love was not rugby but football. It was through his advent to football that he found the love towards the oval ball sport.
“I used to play football a lot at my local club and then my father brought me down to the rugby club to have a go and since then it has been going well for me.
“He (Martin Worley) is the reason why I have become successful”
Since the entrance to rugby at an age of six years, Worley has been performing up to the ranks as a standout scrum half excelling in his capacity from the junior level to finally representing the Hong Kong Football Club at the senior-most level.
In the rugby frenzied Asian destination of Hong Kong, the sport is ardently followed by a closely knit majority in the country and Worley took the centre stage to wear the Hong Kong junior colours at a young age of 17.
“I first played at the senior level when we toured Sri Lanka, being the youngest player in the team and this (2016) was my third year in the national jersey and it has been a life changing decision so far”
It was a golden opportunity for the young Worley when he got the chance to travel to Racing 92 in France on a two-month stay via his local club sponsors Natixis who are also the sponsors of Racing 92
“We went there as interns for the bank and in return myself and Pierce West (Former Junior National cap) went to Racing 92 to see the difference in the rugby culture and the professionalism”
An ecstatic Worley describes his tales at Racing to be ‘any players dream’ to train and practice at a place where the greats have played their rugby.
“Opportunities are given to individuals to join the senior team practices and it is a whole different feeling to play with the pros in their practices”
“To pass the ball to likes of Dan Carter is anyone’s dream”
Training alongside the greats like the former All Blacks players of the stature of Dan Carter and Joe Rockocoko was a dream come true for the young gun as it was the French club that found his persona to shift from scrum half to fullback.
“It was at Racing 92 that the coaches suggested to me that 15 will be my natural talent”
The expertise from the French connection has worked quite well for the Hong Kong national as he switched to fullback to be one of the most poignant back players in the junior Asian circuit.
Worley’s game control together with his sweeper capabilities in defence has clearly stood out during the Asia Rugby Under 19 competition moulding him to be the unanimous choice in the team, standing out with his kicking skills as well.
The talent scouts at Racing 92 clearly didn’t want to let go of such a talent store as he was further signed for a two additional years in the training academy.
“The Rugby World Cup 2020 and the Olympics in 2020 are my targets”
With the Rugby World Cup and the Olympics coming up in 2020, Worley hopes to make his mark in the professional circuit and make his entrance to the professional playing arena in the next five years”
With such ambition built in a 19 year-old, this new kid out of the blocks of Hong Kong is surely set to be a rising star in the international arena with the potential to achieve greater glories in the oval ball sport.
