The XV of France, the National Rugby League and, of course, the Stade Français will pay tribute this weekend to Christophe Dominici, former winger of the Blues tragically disappeared, Tuesday, November 24, at the age of 48 years. Thomas Lombard, the general manager of the Parisian club where “Domi” had played (from 1997 to 2008) then coached (2008-2009), speaks with emotion of a man who was dear to him, a former teammate so endearing.
You obviously had a hard time getting to sleep last night …
THOMAS LOMBARD. We are devastated and we will be for a long time to come. The more the hours will advance, the more we will start to realize and sink a little further. It is with such violence, such suddenness that we are shaken.
Have you recently spoken to Christophe Dominici?
Yes, we were sending messages. He had been deeply marked by the abortive takeover of the Béziers club (Editor’s note: during the summer), the various comments and judgments pronounced against him on this subject which had shaken him. He was trying to rebuild himself and get better about it all. Christophe was a winner, someone who deserved much more respect than he was given during that period. Especially since he did things with heart and convictions as always.
What criticisms had touched him deeply?
I don’t want to talk about it. If it didn’t happen, there’s bound to be a reason. But when someone puts so much energy, commitment into it… He wasn’t looking for anything, no light or special recognition. He just wanted to try and be successful in this business. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be done, but there was no need to convey things that could hurt and hurt.
You had discussed a lot on this file?
Of course. He was not the direct investor. Apart from putting all his heart in like he always did for everything, what do you want me to tell you?
Do you think that this abortive takeover of the Béziers club could have caused this tragic event?
I am not here to establish cause and effect links, not even at all. What is certain is that it was something that touched him deeply.
Did you have great closeness to him?
We had a very strong relationship. When we had the chance to experience what we experienced together wearing the Stade Français jersey during all these years (Editor’s note: from 1997 to 2004 with four titles of champion of France), it creates unbreakable bonds. With Domi, but also with the twenty-three who are part of the adventure. We have an almost fusional link.
It was called ultra-sensitive. Is that what sometimes made him fragile?
Domi was built in adversity, pain, wounds. His daily life was to be able to expel all this suffering by being someone who mainly took care of others, loved them, would try to dig, to understand what was inside people. It was a process of knowing others and perhaps of introspection. But suddenly, relations were very powerful with him. It’s special to have someone face to face who always wants to go further, but it’s also extremely strong and a generator of links. Domi marked everyone because he was not in a traditional relationship. He was about emotion, affect, challenge, winning, excellence… All that resonated with him and he passed it on to everyone.
The disappearance of his sister haunted him, he also experienced depression … Did you feel all these inner wounds in him?
Domi was very modest about that. He preferred to dwell on others. Afterwards, the strongest people are sometimes the most vulnerable. He cultivated this strength, this energy, this enthusiasm that he shared but he also had his weaknesses like everyone else. He put so much conviction into it that he could live, and that’s quite normal, the times when he was down. Domi lived everything intensely, in good times as in bad times.
This disappearance occurs at a time when you have this desire to enhance the past of Stade Français, through its historical players, like Christophe Dominici …
He traveled a lot with us last season until the championship came to a halt. He was in every game for Jean-Bouin. He was present and it was normal.
You spent seven years with him at the Stade Français and in the France team. What memories will you keep of him?
Domi, it was a hurricane. When he landed somewhere, he was spectacular. An elusive character in the field as in life. I repeat myself, but it was never conventional with him. There was not a day when there was not something going on with him, that is the particularity of these people. They need it and you need it hard because they get you used to it. He was someone who didn’t know the ordinary. We spent our time laughing. If the training was scheduled for 10 a.m., it could happen at 8 a.m. or at 10.15 a.m. You never knew with him. But from the moment he was there you knew that something was going to happen and that it was going to be profitable for the team.
What tribute will the club pay him on Saturday on the occasion of the match in Lyon?
Having a good match is the best way to pay tribute to him already. Afterwards, you will see.
