Former France and Stade Francais wing Christophe Dominici has died at the age of 48.
An earner of 67 caps for Les Bleus, Dominici was part of two historic wins for France over the All Blacks in both the 1999 and 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Before the turn of the millenium, Dominici scored one of the most memorable tries in World Cup history when chasing a Fabien Galthie box-kick against the All Blacks to cross for the try which opened the floodgates.
His passing comes in the same year he had worked on a potential takeover of debt-ridden Pro D2 club Beziers to billionaire investors from the UAE, which was shutdown by a review led by French rugby‘s financial watchdog DNACG in July.
Dominci was found dead on Tuesday in Parc de Saint-Cloud in the Hauts-de-Seine region close to Paris.
“It is with immense sadness that the Stade Francis learns of the death of Christophe Dominici,” his former club confirmed in a statement.
“During the 11 years spent under our colours, Christophe will have, thanks to his incredible talent and his class, greatly contributed to writing the history of the club.
“his exploits in the blue jersey will have dazzled thousands of young rugby players and allowed the French team to write some of the most beautiful pages in its history.”
As a two-time Six Nations Grand Slam winner, Dominici also played for Stade Francais during their halcyon days as one of Europe’s formidable clubs.
Having began his career at Toulon, Dominici moved north to Paris in 1997 to join Stade Francais where he established himself as one of the greats of French rugby.
Betweem 1998 and 2007, the club famed for their all-pink jerseys would claim five Top 14 titles and reach the final of the Champion Cup in 2001 and 2005 to cement their position as one of the best teams on the continent.
After retiring in 2008, Dominici stayed at the club to transition into coaching with a focus on the backs.
