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

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. Trinh-Duc's regular position was as a fly-half or inside centre.

Early life

Trinh-Duc was born in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. 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

team-mate Fulgence Ouedraogo.

Rugby career

With fellow ''Montpelliérains'' Louis Picamoles and Julien Tomas, they are 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 Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...

's stronghold. Trinh-Duc was called up by Marc Lièvremont to the

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

squad for the 2008 Six Nations Championship, 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

19–12 at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

in quarter-final in

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

. 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 examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. 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. He was called the "Dark Destroyer" during his career. Dusautoi ...

'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 professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner Banlieue, suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity Stadium#Types, domed stadium Pa ...

for

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 National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

rivals

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

from the 2021–22 season.

Personal life

Trinh-Duc (, ) was noted as one of the first ever rugby players of Vietnamese 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), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

, migrated to France during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 in ...

, and settled near

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

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, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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 Rugby union players from Montpellier French rugby union players French people of Vietnamese descent Sportspeople of Vietnamese descent French sportspeople of Italian descent Rugby union fly-halves Montpellier Hérault Rugby players RC Toulon players Racing 92 players France international rugby union players Union Bordeaux Bègles players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 21st-century French sportsmen