SCRUM-HALF MORGAN Parra will now learn tomorrow if he will be able to play for France against Scotland in the Six Nations on March the 8th.
The 25-year-old Clermont number nine attended a disciplinary hearing this morning in Paris after being red-carded for head-butting an opponent while playing in the Top 14 on Saturday.
He was tight-lipped as he left the LNR (Ligue National de Rugby) headquarters after the hearing, which lasted more than an hour, but his lawyer said a decision was expected “on Thursday at around 12.30pm”.
Parra was recalled to the French squad by coach Philippe Saint-André on Monday after a long absence due to injury.
But the head-butting charge has raised the possibility of a suspension and he requested that his hearing be brought forward from March the 12th, after the Scotland game, as he would have been banned from playing with that meeting still pending.
Parra is facing a two-week suspension that would rule him out of the Scotland game, but if that were to prove the case, he would be free to play for his country in their final fixture at home to Ireland on March the 15th.
He was expected to ask for a more lenient sanction, arguing that his action was more in immediate reaction to a hard tackle by an offside Rene Ranger of Montpellier than a deliberate gesture.
Parra, who served a suspension in October for punching an opponent (video above), missed the first three Six Nations matches as Saint-André waited to see how he performed for his club after returning from injury.
Parra’s return was one of several changes made to the squad by Saint-André in the wake of the 27-6 loss to Wales that wrecked hopes of a first French Grand Slam since 2010.
Do you think Parra deserves a ban for his actions against Montpellier?
