Martín Leandro Castrogiovanni is a former Italian Argentinerugby union footballer. He played for Ghial Calvisano, with whom he won the Italian championship in 2005. He signed a contract with Leicester Tigers, and after a successful 2006/07 season with them, was named Guinness Premiership player of the season. He wears the name "Castro" on his shirt rather than "Castrogiovanni" A native of Paraná, Argentina, Castrogiovanni made his international debut for the Italian national team on June 8, 2002, during the tour against the All Blacks, and since, has become a regular in the national side. He played every game of Italy's 2004 Six Nations campaign and was a reliable member of their forward pack, being selected man of the match in the victory against Scotland. One of his most famous moments came in 2004, when, during the summer tour against Japan, he scored a hat-trick - a rarity for a prop forward. He led the national team for the game against Scotland during the 2012 Six Nations Championship, which Italy won 13-6, leading him to Tweet "Only unbeaten 6 Nations Captain". Castrogiovanni and Marcos Ayerza signed three-year contract extensions with the Premiership champions in January 2008. In 2011, after much speculation about a move to France, he declared "money isn't everything" and renewed his contract with Leicester Tigers, much to the relief of the Leicester, where the chant of "Castro" is heard often as he is a firm favourite of the fans. During his time at Leicester Castrogiovanni played in two victorious Premiership finals in 2010 and 2013. During the 2008 Six Nations Championship, Castrogiovanni was Italy's top try scorer. After seven years at Welford Road, he signed for French club Toulon for the 2013–14 season. On 10 June 2015, Castrogiovanni signed for Top 14 rivals Racing 92 from the 2015-16 season. While he helped lead Racing to their first-ever European club final in 2016, he would be suspended by Racing for that particular match. He did not play in Racing's European Rugby Champions Cup semi-final against Leicester Tigers, telling the club that he was in Argentina attending to family matters. However, he was instead spotted in Las Vegas partying with players from Parisian football clubParis Saint-Germain, including superstar Zlatan Ibrahimović, with photos of the group appearing in multiple French publications. The club indicated that it would take legal action against Castrogiovanni.
Personal life
Castrogiovanni is co-owner of an Italian restaurant in Leicester, Timo. He has recently opened another Timo in Market Harborough, which he co-owns with fellow Tigers player Geordan Murphy. He speaks four languages: his native Spanish, Italian, English and French.
