Christopher Peter Cusiter (born 13 June 1982) is a retired Scottish international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played at scrum-half. He played for teams including

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

Border Reivers Border Reivers were Cattle raiding, raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border. They included both Scotland, Scottish and England, English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality.Hay, D. "E ...

and

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

before ending his career at

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

International career

Cusiter made his first start for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in the 2004 Six Nations match against

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

. During 2005 and 2006 Cusiter suffered a series of injuries representing Scotland. In 2015 he sustained a knee injury against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and upon his starting return against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the 2006 Six Nations suffered a pectoral injury. After making a substitute appearance against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in the 2006 Autumn tests he was given the all clear to start against the

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subreg ...

only to be stretchered off after 10 minutes. Cusiter was named as joint-captain Captain along with Mike Blair for the Autumn internationals of 2009 and the

2010 Six Nations Championship The 2010 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2010 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Championship and the 116th international championship, an annual rugby union competition b ...

. Cusiter went on the

2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand In 2005, the British & Irish Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, playing seven matches against first and second division teams from the National Provincial Championship, one match against the New Zealand Mao ...

making one appearance as a substitute against Argentina.

Club career

While still at

Watsonians Watsonian Football Club is a rugby union club based in Edinburgh and part of the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is connected with George Watson's College as a club for former pupils, and changed its policy in the 1980s to be a fully open club, ...

, Cusiter was called into the

side in the 2001–02 season. At the end of the season he had a number of games warming the bench, before making his professional debut coming on in the 79th minute against

Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Super Rygbi Cymru. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as ''The Whites,'' in reference to their home kit colours. History ...

in the Welsh-Scottish League in Glasgow's last game of the season. At the season end he moved back to

, but secured another professional club in 2003 when he signed for

. The Borders side folded in 2007 and Cusiter moved to play in France. On 18 April 2007, it was announced that Cusiter would sign for the French side

. On 27 January 2009 Cusiter moved back to Scotland, securing a deal to play with

once again; this time on a three-year contract. His contract was extended and he played with Glasgow till the end of the 2013–14 season. For the following season 2014–15, he moved to the English Aviva Premiership side,

. Cusiter announced his retirement from rugby in May 2016.

Personal

His brother Calum was also an international Rugby player representing the Scotland 7s team. Cusiter is a self-confessed fan of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

, following the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French language, French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the ...

after his two-year spell in

. Originally from

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, he attended

Robert Gordon's College Robert Gordon's College is a co-educational private school for day pupils in Aberdeen, Scotland. The school caters for pupils from Nursery through to S6. History Background Robert Gordon, an Aberdeen merchant, made his fortune in 18th cent ...

and studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. Following his retirement moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to set up a whisky-focused alcohol retail business.

References

External links

Scotland profile

Chris Cusiter on Sporting Heroes

Chris Cusiter on BBC Sport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cusiter, Chris 1982 births Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Border Reivers players Boroughmuir RFC players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Glasgow Warriors players People educated at Robert Gordon's College Rugby union players from Aberdeen Rugby union scrum-halves Sale Sharks players Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players USA Perpignan players Watsonian FC players 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players Scottish expatriate rugby union players in France