Poitrenaud made his debut for France during 2001, and was part of the French side which defeated the Springboks 20 to 10 in Paris. He earned a further two international caps for France that year, playing in the subsequent victories over Australia in Marseille and Fiji in Saint-Étienne. Toulouse made it to the final of the 2002-03 Heineken Cup, and defeated USA Perpignan to win the cup. Toulouse were also finalists of the domestic competition, but were defeated by Stade Français.
