Relatives of Christophe Dominici, who died suddenly, and the rugby family said goodbye to the former French XV winger on Friday during a ceremony in Hyères in the Var, his native land.
From 10 a.m., relatives of the Dominici family or simple rugby fans took turns in front of the church of Hyères to express their condolences and show their sympathy to the child of the country by writing a note on the registers made available by the town hall.
Hundreds of people, sometimes wearing a scarf from the Stade Français with which the player was five times champion of France or the Toulon Rugby Club where he began his professional career (1993-1997), gathered in front of the doors of the church , framed for the occasion by two huge portraits of the former player who died suddenly on November 24 at the age of 48.
Like a symbol, the rain was invited when the coffin arrived. Several rounds of applause then rang out before the 400 people present rushed into the church where “Domi” had been baptized.
Inside, the president of the French Rugby Federation Bernard Laporte, ex-rugby player Yann Delaigue and Toulon player Sergio Parisse took turns speaking.
Always very moved, the voice trembling, Bernard Laporte greeted “a fighter”, a “whole man, sincere, authentic and true”, which is “celebrated since last week all over the world, from Auckland to Twickenam”. The president of the federation remembered the “malicious” and “lively” look of the one he considered “his friend and his brother”, before associating “the world of rugby with his pain”.
For his part, Yann Delaigue recounted the first trip to the island of Embiez off Toulon during his first call in Blue: “with you, everything was exaggerated. We were not good, we were the best. We were the best. we were not laughing, we were crying with laughter. We didn’t like, we were passionate “.
Before the former boss of the Stade Français, Max Guazzini read a passage from the bible, Sergio Parisse, a former Parisian now player on the harbor, said the “chance to know him” and his pride “to have passed part of his life with him “, before ending his speech with words in Italian in the direction of Christophe Dominici’s two daughters.
After blessing the coffin, several players including Olivier Magne, Franck Combat, Patrice Teisseire, Richard Dourthe or even Thierry Louvet carried the coffin to the exit where applause resounded, again lulled by the sound of “I will survive ”by Gloria Gaynor.
The coffin finally left around 5 p.m. in the cemetery of La Ritorte, where Christophe Dominici was buried in the family vault.
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