Matt Garvey was in excellent form for London Irish during the first half of last season making 19 appearances for the Exiles. His last game of the season away against Munster in the Heineken Cup saw Garvey put in his best performance of the season against Paul O'Connell and Donnacha O'Callaghan who are arguably one of the best second row combinations in world rugby.

Garvey was London Irish's best defender during the 2010/11 season with a tackle completion rate of over 95%. The rightly received the defender of the season award at the London Irish end of season awards last May. Garvey has made 30 appearances for London Irish and is yet to cross the try line.

After displaying some promising performances last season, Matt Garvey, 24, really broke through this season, and before sustaining an injury, was regularly challenging for a starting spot in what has been a very competitive first team position at the club. His aggressive defence and ball carrying has led to regular praise from Head Coach, Toby Booth, for his outstanding performances and positive impacts on games.

He was named in the England Saxons squad for the fixture with Ireland Wolfhounds in January 2012.