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PARIS - Veteran France winger Christophe Dominici said he is desperate for a second World Cup chance after being unceremoniously dumped after the embarrassing 17-12 defeat to Argentina.
The 35-year-old was one of the players purged after the loss to the Pumas which looked at the time to
have blown a huge hole in France's title dreams.
But as he sat out the 87-10 win over Namibia and 25-3 win against Ireland, his teammates were revelling in a damage limitation exercise which has put France within touching distance of the last eight.
"When you have got responsibilities and things don't go the way you want, it can get to you. We went into the first match as favourites but things took a different turn," said Dominici who has collected 23 tries in his 63-Test career.
"That's the way it is in sport at this level. I didn't perform as well as I could have in one match, so it is up to me to bounce back and show what I am capable of."
Dominici will be hoping he is handed that opportunity when coach Bernard Laporte names his team to face Georgia in the concluding Pool D game in Marseille on Sunday.
He believes he has plenty to prove not just to himself but also his critics who were desperate for scapegoats in the aftermath of the Argentina defeat.
"One thing which bothered me afterwards was that a lot of people were quick to give me lessons," said Dominici.
"Up against Argentina, we were out of form but now we are excellent, that is the way top level sport is, I accept that.
"Being a good competitor is about recognising when you are coming back up again, and not just when you are at the top and everything is going smoothly. "After Argentina it was cataclysmic. Maybe the warm-up games lulled us into a false sense of security. We did not know how to adapt our game to the opponents we were facing."
Dominici insists that too much can be read into the morale-boosting win over Ireland and that the real test will come in the quarter-finals where they could up against favourites the All Blacks.
"We beat an average Ireland side. But there was a lot of pressure around that match and it was managed well," added the winger.
"I watched New Zealand's match against Scotland and what I saw was a bit more of an individual style of game," he said.
"I didn't think it was as wonderful as some people say. But the Blacks are the Blacks and we know they are good in every department. But the Scots posed them a few problems in spite of the 40-0 scoreline."
- AFP