Castrogiovanni
Martín Castrogiovanni was a fearsome prop who was a giant for Leicester Tigers and Italy.
Martín Castrogiovanni Bio
Martín Castrogiovanni is a former tight-head prop who was a giant for Leicester Tigers and the Italian national team. Martín Castrogiovanni was inducted into the RugbyPass Hall of Fame in 2021.
Although he was born in Argentina on 21 October 1981, Martín Castrogiovanni began his professional rugby-playing career in Italy, when he made his debut for Calvisano in 2001. During his time with the Italian side, he won the Italian Championship in 2005. However, he left the club and signed for Leicester Tigers a year later.
Between 2006 and 2013, Martín Castrogiovanni was arguably at the peak of his powers. During this period, he made a whopping 145 appearances for Leicester Tigers and became a favourite with fans. During this spell, he also won multiple Premiership titles and was named as the Guinness Premiership Player of the Year in 2007.
However, after years of speculation about moving to France, Martín Castrogiovanni finally signed for Toulon in 2013. That said, he only represented the French giants until 2015, before he left for Racing 92. However, he retired from rugby in 2016 after he was sacked for partying in Las Vegas with football star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Despite his prolific domestic career, Martín Castrogiovanni is undoubtedly best known for his international career, where he was capped 119 times by Italy. During this time, he enjoyed several highlights. These included scoring a hat-trick against Japan and captaining Italy to victory in a Six Nations game against Scotland.
Since retiring in 2016, Martín Castrogiovanni has largely led a private life away from the game. However, he now runs a rugby camp for kids and regularly coaches.
