The defeat Morgan Parra most regrets, and his South African fury
Scrum-half Morgan Parra has revealed the one Clermont match he would revisit in order to change the result - and the veteran has also hit out at tournament officials for allowing South African clubs to compete in next season’s European Cups. The 33-year-old is adjusting to life at Stade Francais following his recent move to the French capital after 13 seasons at Clermont, the club he joined in 2009 after originally making the professional level breakthrough at Bourgoin.
Parra went on to win 71 France caps before retiring from the Test stage post the 2019 World Cup. He has now also called time on his extensive stay at Clermont and has chosen their 2013 Heineken European Cup final loss to Toulon in Dublin as the result he would most love to change.
Speaking in the latest edition of Midi Olympique, the French rugby newspaper, Parra revisited the agonising Aviva Stadium final defeat from nine years ago and added that the time was right for him to finally leave Clermont this summer and seek out a fresh adventure elsewhere in the Top 14.
“To be European champion in 2013 with the ASM,” replied Parra when asked if there was one match he would like to change. “When you are young, you watch on TV the great teams that lift the Brennus Shield and the European Cup.
“Me, I saw Brive and Toulouse (win in Europe), so I wanted to be among them... We came so close that year. This final perhaps forged me a little more, and also made me grow.
“All this is part of my story and even part of my life, but I made the choice to discover something else after having asked myself for a long time the question of extending at Clermont," he added about his move away this summer to Paris. "ASM was entering a new phase of their project with a lot of changes. It was the right time to leave.”
An irony is that Stade Francais will host Clermont in the opening round of the new Top 14 season, a September clash that is sure to be weirdly emotional for Parra. He’d rather embrace that, though, than get his head around the prospect of South African teams playing in the 2022/23 European competitions.
Stade are due to fly to South Africa in December to take on the Lions in Johannesburg in the European Challenge Cup before hosting them in Paris the following month, but the inclusion of these southern hemisphere franchises in the two European tournaments is something that has upset Parra.
“I'm going to be honest: it's a great experience for the players who are going to face these franchises but for me, it's no longer called the Champions Cup. Before, it was the European Cup - with real meaning and history, too.
“I have nothing against the southern hemisphere but today it is no longer the European Cup. Let it be called something else and say that the European Cup no longer exists. And it's the same for the Challenge Cup, it no longer exists. For me, the two competitions should not be played with South African clubs.”
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wel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
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