The Beginning
Agustin Pichot has been the driving force behind getting Argentina onto the world stage. He was an inspirational player and captain lead Argentina to third place at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Consequently, the rest of the world had to sit up and take notice. Their success in 2007 eventually lead to their inclusion in the Rugby Championship from 2012 onward. He played with passion and was an instinctive scrumhalf who read the game well and could vary his game when needed.
Pichot made his debut for Los Pumas against Australia in 1996 at the age of 19. He was still playing amateur rugby for his club, Club Atlético San Isidro (CASI) in Buenos Aries. After a couple of solid performances, he was quickly snatched up by UK club Richmond.
Pichot moved from Richmond to Bristol in 1999 and in the same year, he helped Argentina reach the quarter finals of the Rugby World Cup by beating Ireland in a classic encounter.
Captaincy
In 2000 Pichot was named captain of Argentina and in his first match in charge, Los Pumas beat Ireland 34-23. He would eventually cement himself as captain after proving a popular choice among the players.
In 2003, Argentina had a disappointing World Cup campaign, exiting in the group stages after narrow losses to Australia and Ireland. At this time, he moved to French super club, Stade Francais, with whom he won the Top 14 title in 2004.
The Pinnacle
Under Pichot’s leadership, Argentina scored famous wins against England and Waled in 2006 and that set them up for what was to come in 2007. In the opening game, Los Pumas shocked the rugby world by beating a strong French side on home soil. Later in the campaign they downed the Irish and the Scotland to set them up for a semi final showdown with South Africa. They lost out to the Springboks, but exited the tournament in splendid fashion by thumping France for a second time in the third placed play-off.
His Legacy
Pichot retired from international rugby following the 2007 Rugby World Cup and in October 2011, he was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
Finally, in 2015, Agustin Pichot was elected as Vice Chairman of World Rugby, an acknowledgment to all the work he has done for the development of rugby as a true world game. In addition, in 2016, he was voted most influential figure in world rugby.
He was truly, a revolutionary player. Let’s hope the revolution continues.
