Parra has his eye on a final flourish

FOR a while, it looked as if Morgan Parra’s season – and possibly his career – had ended with an unwelcome whimper rather than a thoroughly merited bang.

- JAMES HARRINGTON

 

The 34-year-old Stade Francais scrum-half suffered an ankle injury midway through the first-half of Sunday’s 13-17 ‘Fan Days’ loss to local rivals Racing 92 at Stade Jean Bouin, and was replaced by James Hall.

Early indications weren’t promising, with reports suggesting that Parra might need an operation that would definitely end his season, and could pull down the curtain on his playing career – amid reports he is set to join the club’s coaching staff at the end of the campaign.

News from the camp, however, is that no surgery is being considered. Word is Parra has torn ligaments in his ankle, but intends to be patched up and playing again in time for the Parisian side’s trip to his old haunt, Clermont, in early May. In domestic terms, he looks set to miss only Stade’s trip to Brive on April 15 and the meeting against Toulouse on April 22.

There’s no doubt Stade Francais – who hosted Lyon in the Challenge Cup yesterday – needed a dose of late-season luck. Despite being third in the Top 14, they had stumbled to two domestic losses in their last two outings, losing 37-9 at Toulon before their derby reverse last Sunday.

They have lost a number of players to injury – Clément Castets and Sione Tui will not feature again this season, and Sitaleki Timani, like Parra, is racing to be fit in time for the final sprint to the play-offs.

Canal Plus reported in January the scrum-half, who joined Stade Francais from Clermont at the end of the previous season, would move from dressing room to backroom at Stade Jean Bouin at the end of the current campaign.