Diego Dominguez and Mourad Boudjellal© AFP PHOTO / BORIS HORVAT

Diego Dominguez will officially be in charge at Toulon from next year but he is rushing through the learning process as he prepares to succeed the master Bernard Laporte.

In more than one sense, Dominguez's professional career is closely bound with Laporte's. Back in 1997 the former France boss coach took the guy from Cordoba and dropped him into Max Guazzini's entourage at Stade Français. Four French championship triumphs, one French cup title and 461 points later, history shows it was the perfect move.

With Dominguez wearing the No.10 shirt, Laporte's Stade immediately regained its domestic competitiveness, bringing back to Paris the first Bouclier de Brennus of the professional era, exactly 90 years from their last success. Guazzini's club became quickly a powerhouse in Europe, losing the 2001 Heineken Cup final 34-30 to Leicester Tigers late on thanks to Leon Lloyd's last minute try. Even in that famous Parc des Princes setting, Dominguez was phenomenal, scoring all of Stade's 30 points.

Laporte only partially enjoyed Stade Français' ride on top of European rugby as his work in Paris was soon led to a call to take the helm of the French national side in 1999. He was sat for eight years on Les Bleus' bench, winning four Six Nations championships - including two Grand Slams - and pushed France to an as yet unsurpassed second place in the international rankings.

So there's more than a simply friendship between Dominguez and Laporte; there's a genuine trust and belief in each other's qualities.

Now, after four years transforming Toulon tradition into one of the best rugby clubs on the planet - and in the history of the game - Laporte called on Dominguez again.

"Bernard is a very good friend," Dominguez told ESPN. "We've known each other for some time now and he's been instrumental in bringing me Toulon. I cannot say enough good things about him."

It was Laporte who advised Boudjellal about Dominguez's potential as a coach. "I definitely have to thank him because I know that he was one of the men that gave me this opportunity," confirms Dominguez.

While his pedigree as a Test fly-half is unquestionable - he sits at the fifth place on the all-time points leaderboard with 983 - in terms of coaching he still needs time to understand the role. Toulon recognise this and have given him plenty of time get well prepared.

"I have been with the team regularly since the end of the last Six Nations," reveals Dominguez. "I normally spend one week a month in Toulon. I will stay with them for the summer and then for a week in September, October and November. I will move there permanently on December 10."

Bernard Laporte© (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Dominguez will be fully involved in the Toulon staff as an assistant from January 1, 2016, and will take full control of the team from the beginning of the 2016-2017 season. It is a long path but the method suggests a deep understanding of how to grow and develop coaches at the top level of the game.

Since his arrival, Mourad Boudjellal transformed the club, aligning his success in business with rugby. "Oh yes... he's a winner, no doubt about that," Dominguez says of his new boss. "He has a natural ability on setting and hitting targets that inspire people around him. He is a strong leader and he has the vision and the touch.

"The club is simply magnificent. They have tradition, a huge rugby competence, amazing business nous and a base of fans that are second to none in Europe. They probably are the best club in the world at the moment.

"They have the support of an entire region of four to five millions of residents that live and breathe rugby. I've been impressed by their winning mentality. Everything about the club is targeted on getting victories."

And Dominguez says Boudjellal's method of buying the best players in the world, despite being in the twilight years of their career, is a sound approach despite some in the rugby world questioning the ruthless approach.

"Boudjellal is a very wise man, the club is investing big in the development of their young guns so they will come through. He's not used to wasting money. Toulon have developed first-class facilities for its pupils and there are talented players coming through the system at present so it's only a matter of time. Obviously, if you want to build a winning mentality you have to win games. And that means sometimes you need to get players on the open market if you need to add another option to the squad."

So while Toulon are doing everything to prepare Dominguez for taking over from Laporte, he is fully aware he will have to repay the faith by continuing their unrivalled success.

"I can definitely say that I am here to help the club keep winning," Dominguez says. "Since I was a young player everything I did on and off the pitch was aimed at getting wins and results. I know exactly what it takes to get those in rugby'.