Christophe Dominici is a former French rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer of Italian origin. He played wing for Stade Français and France

France national rugby union team

The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

. He has been a coach with Stade Français since the start of the 2008/9 season and a board member since 2009/10 season.

Club career

Christophe Dominici was born in Toulon and by his own account had a difficult sometimes turbulent childhood. He was outstanding at football and for a while was training with AS Monaco where he met with Lilian Thuram

Lilian Thuram

Lilian Thuram is a retired professional football defender and is the most capped player in the history of the France national team, and one of the twenty most capped players of all time.He played at the top flight in France, Italy and Spain for over 15 seasons, including ten in the Serie A with both...

 with whom he maintains a close friendship. However he decided to concentrate on the oval ball at which he showed exceptional talent and he was playing regularly for Solliès-Pont from the age of 16. He joined his home town side the RC Toulonnais

RC Toulonnais

RC Toulonnais is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

 where he was a regular for four seasons from 1993 to 1997. His form earned a move to Stade Français in Paris, one of the giants of the French club game where he played from 1997 to 2008. He was part of an era when Stade Français won five French championships and other honours. He joined their coaching staff at the start of the 2008/9 season and although he is still registered as a player he has effectively ended his top flight playing career.

International honours

Dominici burst onto the international scene in 1998 with a try-scoring debut against England

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

. The following year, he lit up the 1999 Rugby World Cup

1999 Rugby World Cup

The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...

 with his pace, particularly in the semi-final win against the All Blacks

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

. But his career has not been without its setbacks, off-field problems forcing him out of the squad at times.

Dominici has a fine try-scoring record and grabbed four during the 2003 Rugby World Cup

2003 Rugby World Cup

The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

, but he had a nightmare moment in the 2004 Six Nations Championship

2004 Six Nations Championship

The 2004 Six Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-tenth series of the northern...

 against Italy

Italy national rugby union team

The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...

 when, having crossed the try-line, he dropped the ball when trying to put it down with one hand. He started all five of Les Bleus' 2005 RBS 6 Nations games.

Christophe Dominici won the last of his 65 caps for France in the defeat to Argentina in the World Cup bronze-medal match in October 2007.

He was quoted on his international retirement following his club side Stade Français 33–6 Top 14 home win over Montpellier on 5 January 2008.

'France, it is over for me, It has been a big part of my life. But at any given moment, you must know when to turn the page. There are other players who are capable of bringing something else to the team. It is a new beginning for France, starting with the objective in four years' time (the 2011 World Cup)'. He added 'If I am honest, I know that I will not make that.'

He appeared in each edition of the Dieux Du Stade

Dieux du Stade

Dieux du Stade is the title of two books and several calendars and DVDs first published in 2001, featuring nude and semi-nude photographs of members of Stade Français, a Paris-based domestic French rugby team...

 calendar from 2001 to 2009, in many editions fully nude. As a result in the gay community he is considered a sex symbol as evidenced by the existence of a number of fan sites.

In May 2007 he published an autobiography 'Bleu à l'âme'
It was not a conventional sports autobiography. In it he revealed that he had suffered severe bouts of depression following a personal loss and that he had been brutalised as a child. He comes over as a complicated sometimes troubled man.

Club

• Ligue Nationale de Rugby
  Ligue Nationale de Rugby
  The Top 14 is a rugby union club competition which is played in France. The Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism of LNR. There is promotion and relegation between the Top 14 and the next level down, the...
  
   1997–98, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07
• Finalist : 2004 – 05
• Finalist: Heineken Cup
  Heineken Cup
  The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
  
   (European Cup) 2000–2001, 2004–05
• French Cup winner: 1998–99
• Finalist : 1997–98

International Playing Statistics

• 65 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 Playing Statistics

• Rugby World Cup 2007 : 3 Appearances v Argentina, Georgia, New Zealand, 2 Tries 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
  1999 Rugby World Cup
  The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
  
  : 5 appearances v Canada, Fiji, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia 2 tries 1 v Fiji, 1 v New Zealand.

Autobiography

• Title: Bleu à l'âme
• Published: May 2007
• Language: French
• Publisher: Le Cherche Midi
• Pages: 307
• ISBN 2-7491-0858-6