MATTHEW DALTON WAS a relatively late starter when it came to rugby, only getting involved for the first time when he was 14.
He had been a goalkeeper in soccer and excelled in athletics, competing in the pentathlon and earning a few Ireland singlets, but when he was convinced to give rugby a go in second year at Belfast Royal Academy, he never looked back.
Tall and explosive, he was soon impressing in lineouts and with his powerful ball-carrying in the second row or back row for the Belfast school.
BRA is renowned for having produced a player who was an ideal role model for Dalton – Ulster and Ireland’s Iain Henderson.
“To be honest I never really focused on rugby,” says Dalton. “I didn’t know much about it. Then when I went to BRA, it kind of hit home to me that this guy would be one of my role models.
“He’s just aggressive. He knows his lineouts inside out, he’s smart.”
With Henderson having shown Dalton that there was a clear pathway from BRA to the top of the game, the Malone RFC has set about doing his best to follow in his footsteps.
Now part of the Ireland U20s squad – he scored a try in his second start against Scotland last weekend – and already having earned senior caps for Ulster this season, Dalton is pleased with how things are progressing.
While there is a gap of over six years between them in age, Dalton has enjoyed being a team-mate of Henderson’s.
Funnily enough, Henderson seemed to instantly understand his role as a mentor.
“Actually, I went up to the seniors at Ulster and I never really used to play with the four studs at the front of my boot.
“I was just wearing Predators with two studs at the front instead of four.
“But all the front rows were shouting at me, being nice and messing about it, then he ended up buying me a pair of boots.”
“It was the day before the Connacht game and he came to the captain’s run with a pair of boots for me. I wear them now!”
Henderson is likely to continue to be a guiding influence for Dalton in the coming years as he looks to progress from the province’s academy onto a senior contract.
Dalton recognises the fact that it is “good timing” for himself and the crop of promising young forwards in the Ulster academy, with the senior squad crying out for quality in its forward options.
At 110kg and 6ft 6ins, Dalton is a big unit but his athletics background means he is extremely mobile too.
He clocked an impressive speed of 9.1 metres per second on the Ireland U20s’ GPS system against Scotland last weekend and he is certain his background in the pentathlon - high jump, long jump, shot put, 80-metre hurdles and the 800 metres – has been important in his rugby.
“When you’re young and in athletics, you’re learning to progress your fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibres.
“You’re not doing any weights so you’re not really looking to prevent injury. You’re just doing mobility and plyometrics stuff and it’s just building a base for you to progress into further sports if you want to.
Dalton has benefited from playing Ulster Bank League rugby with Malone, who are flying in Division 2A, although Pro14 caps for his province against the likes of Benetton, the Dragons, Edinburgh and Scarlets have accelerated his development most of all.
“They’re tough,” says Dalton of the Ulster senior squad. “It’s a completely different atmosphere from what I’m used to in the academy. The routine, that’s what helps me through things. It’s very, very intense.
“I had just turned 19 before that game [his debut against Benetton] and Aaron Hall, who was with the 20s but just had surgery on his shoulder, he made his debut with the seniors as well.
“We were both kind of keeping each other company for the whole week of training.”
Right now, Dalton’s focus is on helping the U20s finish off their Six Nations with a victory against England away in Coventry tomorrow evening – a win that could even see them claim the title.
Dalton starts in the second row again and with Paul O’Connell in charge of the pack, he feels they have made improvements with every game.
“Paul is helping us really well,” says Dalton. “He’s brought us on from when we started training last August.
“He’s come in and we started slow with the pack but I think we showed what we can really so against Scotland, collectively as a pack, not just as a team. I think we have really showed what we can bring to the table.”
