François Trinh-Duc (; born 11 November 1986) is a French

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player for

Union Bordeaux Bègles Union Bordeaux Bègles (; oc, Union Bordèu Begla) is a French rugby union team playing in the Top 14, the first level of the country's professional league system. They earned their Top 14 place by winning the promotion playoffs that followed ...

in France's top division of rugby union, the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, 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 o ...

. Trinh-Duc's regular position is at

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

inside centre In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Biography

Trinh-Duc was born in Montpellier. Trinh-Duc started playing rugby at the age of 4 at the Pic-Saint-Loup rugby school near his native city. There, he played with his future Montpellier team-mate Fulgence Ouedraogo. They both entered the club's youth teams at "Cadet" level (U-13/14) and are said to be inseparable friends. With fellow ''Montpelliérains''

Louis Picamoles Louis Picamoles (born 5 February 1986) is a French rugby union player who plays for Montpellier Hérault RC in the Top 14. Picamoles's usual position is at number eight. Club career Picamoles began his club career at Montpellier in 1999 and play ...

and Julien Tomas, he is part of a quartet of home-grown talents embodying the success of the Montpellier Hérault Rugby Club's attempt at "shaking up the old order" of French rugby in the Septimanie ''terroir'' which had always been historical rival Béziers's stronghold. Trinh-Duc was called up by Marc Lièvremont to the

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

squad for the

2008 Six Nations Championship The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

, and has played in all of France's matches in the competition to date. Trinh-Duc's drop goal helped

beat

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

19–12 at Eden Park in quarter final in 2011 Rugby World Cup. He came on as a substitute for the injured Morgan Parra in the 23rd minute of the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He set in motion the move that led to

Thierry Dusautoir Thierry Dusautoir (; born 18 November 1981) is a French former rugby union player who last played for France at international level and Toulouse in the French Top 14 club competition. Dusautoir was considered a strong ball carrier and possessed i ...

's try in the 47th minute and converted the try to make the score 8–7. With 15 minutes remaining and the score still at 8–7, France were awarded a penalty to put them in front for the first time, but Trinh-Duc's 48m penalty attempt was wide off the mark and the All Blacks went on to win the final. On 19 March 2021, Trinh Duc left

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name ...

for

rivals

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

from the 2021-22 season.

Personal life

Trinh-Duc ( vi, Trịnh Đức, ) was noted as one of the first ever rugby players of

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

origin to play for the French national side. His paternal grandfather, Trịnh Đức Nhiên, was born in

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

, migrated to France during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

right after the

Liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany inv ...

, and settled near

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department ...

in Lot-et-Garonne. Nhien later married an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

woman; Trinh-Duc's father, Philippe, being the result of this union.Trinh-Duc the face of French new wave
Brisbane Times, 23 June 2009Photograph of Trinh Duc Nhien, fro
travailleurs-indochinois.org
(see list for "Trinh Duc Nhien"

/ref>

International tries

Footnotes

References

External links

FFR profile

Montpellier Hérault RC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trinh-Duc, Francois 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Montpellier French rugby union players French people of Vietnamese descent Sportspeople of Vietnamese descent French people of Italian descent Rugby union fly-halves Montpellier Hérault Rugby players RC Toulonnais players Racing 92 players France international rugby union players