Born: 29 May, 1948 – Western Samoa Test record: 1 Test (1970) – 0 points
Samoa-born five-eighth Fred Schuster played one Test for New Zealand against the 1970 Lions.
Schuster holds the distinction of being the last player to debut for the Kiwis from the Marist club; after being a non-playing reserve in the series opener against Great Britain, he was called up to play stand-off in the second Test with champion veteran Roger Bailey reverting to centre.
The 22-year-old, who opposed British wizard Roger Millward, had a key hand on Roy Christian’s try that gave New Zealand a 9-0 halftime lead in Christchurch. But the Lions stormed to a convincing 23-9 win and Schuster was dropped for the third clash, with Bailey returning to five-eighth.
The following season, Schuster played in Auckland’s 15-14 win over Australia but missed out on the Kiwis’ ‘Grand Slam’ tour of Great Britain and France.
He is the older brother of John Schuster, who played 10 Tests for the All Blacks before switching codes with Newcastle Knights in 1990 and captaining Western Samoa at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.
