Didier Camberabero

Didier Camberabero

Date of birth	(1961-01-09) 9 January 1961
Place of birth	Valence, France
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight	153 lb (69 kg)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half, Wing, Full-back Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1980–1985 1985–1993 1993–1995 1995–1997 1997–1998 1998–2000 Valence Béziers Nîmes Grenoble Béziers Perpignan () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1982–1991 France 36 (354)

Didier Camberabero (born 9 January 1961), is a former French international rugby union player. He played as fly half.

Biography

Camberabero is a son of the former international, Guy Camberabero, and the nephew of Lilian Camberabero, two brothers who took part in the first Grand Slam won by France. His brother, Gilles, is also an outstanding rugby player.

Didier is the third highest point scorer for the French international team, with 354 points in 36 test matches, behind Christophe Lamaison (380 pts in 37 tests) and Thierry Lacroix (367 points in 43 tests).

Didier also previously set a world record for the greatest number of points on only one match in team of France: 30, against Zimbabwe in 1987. This still stands as a French national record, although the world record has now been surpassed by Simon Culhane (45 points, against Japan in 1995).

With his father Guy, Didier is tied for the French record of the number of successful conversions in a match: 9 in 1987, against Zimbabwe.

He held the world record for the number of successful drop goals in a single match, 3 in 1990 until Jannie De Beer of South Africa broke this when he kicked 5 against England in the 1999 Rugby World Cup quarter final.

Camberabero felt the intrusion of the Cold War in the 1984 FIRA Championships. As a member of the French armed forces, the Polish rugby body tried to prevent him playing Poland, along with Henri Sanz and the Brive RFC centre Yves Fouget, because they were supposed to constitute a security risk to the Communist Regime.

Statistics

• 36 caps for France, between 1982 and 1991
• Played in the final of the Rugby World Cup in 1987
• Winner of the Five Nations tournament in 1983

Sources

• Cotton, Fran (Ed.) (1984) The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records. Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing. ISBN 0-7126-0911-3