Tuesday Round-Up

Parra blow for PSA: French head coach Phillippe Saint-Andre is having a troubled time of late. With his side succumbing to a second consecutive defeat at the weekend, at the hands of Wales, he now has to face the news that scrum half Morgan Parra will miss the remainder of the tournament due to a knee injury. Parra, who was recalled to the starting XV for Saturday’s 2013 loss in Paris, has suffered a tear to the posterior ligament in his right knee and will be sidelined for the coming ten weeks at the very least. With the first four weeks of his rehabilitation period consisting of no movement on his knee whatsoever, Parra is expected to be absent for Clermont’s crucial Champions Cup clash with the Northampton Saint, along with sitting out the remainder of the Six Nations tournament. With Parra now out of contention, it seems likely that Saint-Andre will turn to Sebastien Tillous-Borde who came on over the weekend in a game which marked France’s fourth loss in a row to Wales, including two defeats on home soil.

Wales lose James: Bath front row forward Paul James has been ruled out of action for a period of up to six weeks, after suffering a fractured thumb. James, who came off the bench in Saturday’s important away win in Paris, incurred the injury towards the end of the 80 minutes in the Stade de France. Having returned to Bath for consultation with the club’s medical staff, James will miss the remainder of Wales’ Six Nations campaign. James’ injury will be managed on an ongoing basis at the West Country club, although a six week absence is expected. Elsewhere for Wales, it is expected that skipper Sam Warburton will be available to take on Ireland in Cardiff in little under two weeks time, despite suffering a knee injury against France. Flyhalf Dan Biggar will join Warburton on the sidelines for the opening days of this week, before returning to training later in the week. Both are expected to be fully fit in time for the crucial clash with Ireland at the Millennium Stadium.

Ryan Sheady