Marc Cécillon (born 30 July 1959) 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 and convicted murderer, who captained the national side on five occasions. He represented France from 1988 to 1995, with 46 test caps, including playing in the

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. Cécillon, who played both number 8 and flanker, was known as the ''Quiet Man'' of French rugby. In August 2004, Cécillon was arrested by French police for murdering his wife, whom he shot in front of 60 people at a party in Saint Savin (near to

Bourgoin-Jallieu Bourgoin-Jallieu (; ) is a commune in the Isère department in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France. The city had 28,834 inhabitants in 2019 and lies 35 kilometres east-southeast of Lyon. It was formed by the merger of the former comm ...

). A blood test showed that Cécillon was drunk. On 10 November 2006, Cécillon was found guilty of murdering his wife and sentenced to 20 years in prison, five more years than the prosecution had sought. The sentence was reduced to 14 years on appeal. The French media heavily followed the case. He was freed on parole on 7 July 2011. In September 2018 Cècillion was charged with "driving under the influence of alcohol, without a license and at excessive speed, violence against a person in a state of drunkenness and theft". He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, with six suspended, and fined 350 euros. The incident occurred after he was working at a vineyard and was drinking at a post-harvest evening event. Cècillon reportedly assaulted the vineyard's owner and some other workers who tried to intervene before getting in a vehicle and hitting a parked truck. At his trial Cècillon acknowledged that he was still struggling with alcohol.

References

1959 births Living people Sportspeople from Bourgoin-Jallieu Rugby union players from Isère French rugby union players 20th-century French sportsmen France international rugby union players Rugby union number eights CS Bourgoin-Jallieu players People convicted of murder by France French people convicted of murder Sportspeople convicted of murder French sportspeople convicted of crimes 1991 Rugby World Cup players 1995 Rugby World Cup players {{France-rugbyunion-bio-1950s-stub