Robert McCusker (born 10 December 1985) is a Welsh former rugby union player, who played across the back row. McCusker began his career with the Scarlets, and also played for London Irish and the

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

before retiring. McCusker also played internationally for Wales.

Club career

Born in Wrexham, McCusker began his rugby career playing for

Mold RFC Mold Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the town of Mold, North Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Rugby Union Division Two North League. Mold Rugby Club is a members' run club. They are based at their Chester Road Ground, withi ...

in WRU Division Four North, before being picked up by the Scarlets and Llanelli RFC. He made his debut for the Scarlets in a match against the Exeter Chiefs on 18 August 2007. He was made club captain by the Scarlets for the 2012–13 season. Despite primarily being a flanker, McCusker often played at number 8 for the Scarlets. McCusker left the Scarlets at the start of the 2015–16, moving to London Irish, signing a one-year contract. After one season with London Irish, McCusker returned to Wales, signing for the

as injury cover for Sam Underhill. He later extended his short term contract into a full time deal with the club. McCusker departed the Ospreys at the end of the

2018–19 Pro14 The 2018–19 Pro14 (also known as the '' Guinness Pro14'' for sponsorship reasons) is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the ''Pr ...

season, retiring from rugby.

International career

McCusker has also played for the Welsh under-20 side, as well as the Welsh Sevens team, making appearances in the Hong Kong, England and Scotland legs of the 2006–07 IRB World Sevens Series, and the Dubai and George, South Africa legs of the 2007–08 Series. McCusker was initially named by Wales coach Warren Gatland on a 50-man list of potential 2011 World Cup players. He was named in the Wales squad to play against South Africa, New Zealand and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in Summer 2010 after being promoted from the standby list due to injury to Andy Powell. He made his debut for Wales against South Africa on 5 June 2010 as a second-half replacement. On 26 June 2010, McCusker impressed after replacing number eight and Wales captain Ryan Jones in the 25th minute of the second Test in Hamilton against the All-Blacks. Good form during the first part of the following season meant he kept his place in the Wales squad for the autumn internationals that year. McCusker was again called up for Wales as an injury replacement, for the

2011 Six Nations Championship The 2011 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2011 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the Six Nations Championship, and the 117th edition of the international championship. The annual rugby uni ...

. He came off the bench in the final match against France. McCusker was named in the training squad ahead of the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

, but not selected for the final squad. McCusker was not selected for the squad for the 2012 Six Nations, but returned to the side for the

2012 end-of-year rugby union internationals 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...

, coming off the bench against Argentina. McCusker was selected for the

2013 Wales rugby union tour of Japan In June 2013, Wales national rugby union team, Wales toured Japan as part of the 2013 mid-year rugby test series. They faced Japan national rugby union team, Japan in a two-test series on 8 and 15 June, playing in the oldest dedicated rugby union ...

, and started at number eight in the first test. This was to be his final cap for Wales.

References

External links

Wales Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCusker, Rob 1985 births Living people Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Scarlets players Rugby union players from Wrexham Ospreys (rugby union) players London Irish players