Tributes flow for Dominici
RUGBY
PARIS: Former France and Stade Francais player Christophe Dominici, whose dazzling runs made him one of the country’s best wingers, has died aged 48, his former club said yesterday.
‘‘It is with immense sadness that Stade Francais learns of the death of Christophe Dominici,’’ Stade Francais said.
Dominici won 67 caps for France from 1998 to 2007, scoring a memorable try in its stunning 4331 victory against the All Blacks in the 1999 World Cup.
He won five
French national titles with Stade
Francais and four Six
Nations titles with Les
Bleus, including grand slams in 1998 and 2004.
‘‘So much sadness. Christophe Dominici was an immense player, an artist . . . His sudden death is a shock,’’ sports minister Roxana Maracineanu said.
‘‘I’m devastated,’’ his former France and Stade Francais teammate, Sylvain Marconnet, said. ‘‘With his crappy physique, he beat all the best defences in the world. It really sucks to lose him at 48.’’
New Zealand Rugby was among several unions to pay tribute to Dominici.
‘‘Small in stature but a titan on the field,’’ it said on Twitter. ‘‘Christophe Dominici, we will never forget you.’’ — Reuters