Munster signing Pitout happy to kick Toulouse into touch
A Toulouse on-the-table contract remained unsigned as the South African utility back winged his way to Ireland instead.
It prompted a typically understated response from Munster coach Declan Kidney: “We must be doing something right.”
Although recent Munster signing Trevor Halstead may have had something to do with the decision, and Pitout admits to having asked his former colleague, with whom he played on a number of occasions, for advice, he was still taken with the idea of playing in Ireland rather than France.
“I suppose, one of the selfish reasons was that I would have had major problems communicating in French, no chance in fact, but I wanted to come to a club like the one I had come from at home, a community-based club if you like.
“The Toulouse people did not react well; they couldn’t believe it and I felt, by their reaction, that they looked upon themselves as the biggest club that anyone would want to join. I think it was a big shock for them,” he said.
Pitout is from farming stock, with a degree in agriculture in animal production from a Pretoria University and might well have been lost to the game in his early development years and, indeed, not long into his professional career.
He was not the typical rugby product, even though he acknowledges that rugby was bound to influence his life at some stage or other. “Sport in South Africa is important in everyday life. Participation in rugby, in some way or another, is inevitable.”
But it wasn’t until the 28-year-old first started university that his interest burgeoned.
Five years ago, his talents were spotted by Super 12 team the Free State Cheetahs and he took up his first professional contract.
An out and out winger/part time centre, his career blossomed in the Currie Cup, the Super 12 and for the South African Sevens side.
His involvement with the Sevens helped keep him in the national limelight, but also almost contributed to the end of a short professional career.
Pitout suffered an horrendous leg injury when playing in an international tournament in Dubai less than 10 months ago.
He recalls: “I was playing against England when I broke my leg and dislocated my ankle.
“I was operated on in Dubai, and later the wound got septic. I had to have skin grafts to close the wound and that set me back a lot.
“The prognosis wasn’t bad at the start, but at one stage it got bad because the infection got into the bone. There was even a suggestion that I might lose my leg.”
That type of medical report should normally send potential employees scurrying in the opposite direction and Pitout, a few months ago, wouldn’t have been surprised.
But clearly he comes from tough stock. “It was very worrying to go through that. Up to my injury, I really felt I had been playing well. It was a huge blow and, later, a serious worry for my overall health,” he admitted.
But he’s back, and delighted to be in Munster, especially delighted that a team came looking for his services.
With his background in Sevens rugby, and links to former Irish captain Dion Ó Cuinneagáin, who is a specialist in the field, he looks forward to the challenge in Ireland.
“I’ve only been here a week, but already I feel at home. The guys are nice, they’re very professionally motivated and I look forward to helping them do well in the two major competitions they’re involved in.”
Successive Munster coaches have sought to add an extra dimension to Munster’s back play, even though it’s impossible to fault what the province has achieved with limited financial resources.
Injuries, to the likes of star signing Christian Cullen, to guys like Shaun Payne, Mike Mullins and others at crucial stages over the last three seasons, have played havoc.
Six months ago, Pitout might have arrived in Ireland with a “wooden” leg, but the problem, he insists, has been solved.
And, there is no reason to disbelieve that he is ready to rock and roll.
The Free State Cheetahs saw fit to play him in four matches over the last six weeks and news on the internet suggests people were shocked he left despite being offered a new contract.
It was only three weeks ago that a new agent spoke to him about moving overseas. Last week, he said, everything took off. So Pitout took off, not to France, but to Ireland. And, he believes, he won’t regret it.
He has a chance to impress with an undoubted debut against Leinster at Musgrave Park on Sunday afternoon (3.00).
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