Martin Schusterman (born 13 September 1975 in

San Juan, Argentina San Juan () is the capital and largest city of the Argentine province of San Juan in the Cuyo region, located in the Tulúm Valley, west of the San Juan River, at above mean sea level, with a population of around 112,000 as per the (over ...

) is a retired

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer. His last club was

San Isidro Club San Isidro Club (mostly known for its acronym SIC) is an Argentine sports club based in the Boulogne Sur Mer district of Greater Buenos Aires. The club has gained recognition due to its rugby union team, being one of the most successful clubs of A ...

. His usual position was at flanker. Schusterman started his career in 1997 with

in Argentina. In 2003 he made his debut for the

Argentina national rugby union team The Argentina national rugby union team (Spanish: ''Selección de rugby de Argentina'') represents Argentina in men's international rugby union; it is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union ( es, Unión Argentina de Rugby). Nicknamed the Pumas ...

and in 2003 he joined

Plymouth Albion Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). Since 2003 they have pl ...

. In 2006 he joined Leeds Carnegie, then known as Leeds Tykes, and helped the club to secure promotion to the

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

. In 2008 he returned to amateur rugby to his home club

. At the time in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, he made an instant impression at the club, with a try on his debut against

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, after coming on from the substitutes bench. Just two games later he had forced his way into the starting line up and then retained his place for the remainder of the season. He ended the campaign as the club's second highest try scorer with a total of 10 tries. The following season he continued to make his mark on the

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...

side and notched up a further 7 tries to help Plymouth to a third-place finish. In his final season at the club he made 21 appearances and once again proved his try scoring abilities with a further 9 tries. That year Plymouth finished fifth and Martin was named in the Rugby Times National Division One Team of the Year. During his first season with Plymouth, Martin received his first call up to the Argentina squad and that year he made his debut for the Pumas in the

South American Rugby Championship The South American Rugby Championship refers to the continental rugby union championships for South America, organized by Sudamérica Rugby. The current name of the championships is ''South American Six Nations'', implemented in 2018. Throughout hi ...

. He has since won 19 caps for his country. In 2006 he came on as a replacement in Argentina's record breaking 45-27 victory over

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, which was their first ever Test series victory and was also on the bench for their game against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

Martin followed this up with a place in the Argentina squad who handed a shock 25-18 defeat to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

that same year. Having played in two of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

qualifying games Martin was selected to represent the Argentinians in the 2007 World Cup. Schusterman started on the historic draw against the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

in the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

in 2005. He was selected to join the Argentina squad for the

2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens or the Melrose Cup was the fourth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held in Hong Kong at Hong Kong Stadium. Fiji defeated New Zealand in the final to take the Melrose Cup for the second time ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

held in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where they finished on the 3rd place, the best position ever for Argentina. Following his playing time, he's started a career as a coach. Martin has coached the Brazilian National Sevens side since October 2010 after a short period as a Consultant until mid-2012. From February 2013 he is supervising the Youth Divisions of Asociacion Deportiva Francesa, rugby club from the north area of Buenos Aires. He is also coaching the URBA U18 Representative team alongside Agustin Ezcurra. Since 2017 he is coaching the First team at San Isidro Club with Santiago Gonzalez Bonorino and Federico Gallo.

External links

San isidro ClubPlymouth Albion RFCLeeds profilePágina Oficial da Confederação Brasileira de RugbyUnion de Rugby de Buenos Aires
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schusterman, Martin 1975 births Sportspeople from San Juan, Argentina Argentine rugby union players Living people Rugby union flankers Leeds Tykes players Argentina international rugby union players Plymouth Albion R.F.C. players Argentina international rugby sevens players Argentine expatriate rugby union players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate rugby union players in England