[2][3][4] Matthews played rugby union at senior club level for Queen's University, Ards and Wanderers.
On 14 November 1984 Matthews, along with Nigel Carr, was a member of an Ulster team that defeated a touring Australia 15–13 at Ravenhill.
Matthews and Carr were also teammates at Regent House Grammar School, Queen's University, Ards and Ireland.
Along with Steve Smith he was depicted on two stamps in a set of nine issued by Tajikistan for the 1991 Rugby World Cup.
[12] Source:[10][19] In 1989, Matthews played for the British and Irish Lions against France in a match to celebrate the Bicentennial of the French Revolution.
[3][7][25][26] Away from rugby union, Matthews spent twenty years working in the pharmaceutical and consulting industries where he held various roles in sales, marketing, human resources and general management.
[3][4] Between January 2007 and March 2010 he served as director of executive education at the Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School at University College Dublin.