Christophe Dominici

Christophe Dominici (20 May 1972 – 24 November 2020) was a French rugby union player. In a career spanning seventeen years between 1991 and 2008, he played wing for Stade Français and France, scoring a total of 25 tries in 67 international caps, emerging as one of the giants of French rugby. He also served as a member of the coaching staff at Stade Français between 2008 and 2009. He had represented French clubs RC La Valette and RC Toulonnais earlier in his career.

Early life

Christophe Dominici was born in Toulon to a family from Santa-Reparata-di-Balagna, in Corsica. By his own account he had a difficult, sometimes turbulent childhood. He was outstanding at football and for a while was training with AS Monaco, where he met Lilian Thuram, with whom he maintained a close friendship. However he decided to concentrate on rugby at which he showed exceptional talent and was already playing regularly for Solliès-Pont at a young age.

Career

Club career Dominici started his club career with RC La Valette in 1991, before joining his home town side RC Toulonnais, where he was a regular for four seasons from 1993 to 1997. He moved to Stade Français in Paris in 1997, representing the club through 2008, and emerging as one of the giants of French club rugby. He was part of an era when Stade Français won five French championships. but he had a nightmare of a moment in the 2004 Six Nations Championship against Italy when, having crossed the try-line, he dropped the ball when trying to put it down with one hand. However, France still won the game 250. He started all five of Les Bleus' 2005 RBS Six Nations games. He went on to say in his retirement statement:

France, it is over for me. It has been a big part of my life. At a certain moment, you must know to turn the page. There are other players who are also capable of bringing something [to the team]. It is a new beginning, with an objective in four years' time [the 2011 World Cup]. ... If I am honest, I know that I will not make that. Christophe Dominici won a total of 67 caps for France between 1998 and 2007, scoring 25 tries, including 8 across three world cups, with the last of the games being a defeat to Argentina in the World Cup bronze-medal match in October 2007. He was a member of the French team that won four Six Nations titles, including grand slams in 1998 and 2004.

Despite having a diminutive physique, he was acknowledged to have had beaten the best of defences to emerge as one of the country's best wingers.

Post-retirement Post his retirement, Dominici worked as a sports expert on French TV and radio.

In early 2020, he had worked with a United Arab Emirates based consortium to bid for Béziers rugby club based in southern France. The club was facing financial difficulties. However, the bid did not go through and was halted by the sport's financial regulator. Friends had also acknowledged that he had not taken the failed financial bid for the Béziers rugby club very well.

Records and statistics Source(s):

Club career

French Rugby Union Championship/Top 14 199798, 19992000, 200203, 200304, 200607 Finalist: 200405 Finalist: Heineken Cup (European Cup) 20002001, 200405 French Cup winner: 199899 Finalist: 199798

International career 67 caps for France 1998 to 2007 25 Tries (125 points) Caps by Year: 4 in 1998, 10 in 1999, 4 in 2000, 8 in 2001, 9 in 2003, 7 in 2004, 5 in 2005, 8 in 2006, 7 in 2007 Six/Five Nations appearances: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007

Rugby World Cup Rugby World Cup 2007 : 3 Appearances v Argentina, Georgia, New Zealand 2 Tries (2 v Georgia) Rugby World Cup 2003 : 5 Appearances v Fiji, Japan, Scotland, Ireland, England 4 Tries (2 against Fiji, 1 v Japan, 1 v Ireland) 1999 Rugby World Cup : 5 appearances v Canada, Fiji, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia 2 Tries (1 v Fiji, 1 v New Zealand)

Autobiography (french)