The Ile-de-France club’s scrum-half hangs up after winning two Brennus Shields and a Challenge Cup. He had reached the final of the 2011 World Cup with the XV of France.
French Stade scrum-half Morgan Parra will end his playing career to become a coach with the Parisian club, he announced in a daily interview on Monday. The Team. “You have to know how to say stop! I didn’t want to live the year too many, the difficult year, the year when you no longer take pleasure. I had always told myself that I would stop in 2022, at the from my contract in Clermont”explained Parra. “I was ready. I tell myself it’s the right time. This new adventure in the staff of Laurent (Labit) and Karim (Ghezal) also comes at the right time”he added.
Two Brennus and a Grand Slam
Parra (34 years old, 71 caps) arrived at Stade Français this summer after having been a key player in Clermont, where he evolved from between 2009 and 2022. With the Auvergne club, he was notably crowned in the Top 14 at twice (2010, 2017) and in the Challenge Cup (2019). In Blue, Parra was a finalist in the 2011 World Cup, a year after winning the Six Nations Grand Slam tournament.
The native of Metz, under contract as a player with the French Stadium until 2024, has played fifteen matches this season, in all competitions, including thirteen as a starter. He injured his right knee at the start of the season and then an ankle at the end of March.
“The older you get, the more difficult the training sessions, the matches too. Mentally too, it wears out. There are many sacrifices. When you are passionate, you want to push as long as possible. I would like to play all my life. But the fundamental question is: ‘Will I still be on the level?’ Am I still one, by the way?”Parra said.
Next season, Stade Français, currently 3rd in the Top 14, will be coached by Karim Ghezal and Laurent Labit, who are currently on the staff of the XV of France. “It all started with an approach from Karim Ghezal, who had just been appointed head coach of Stade Français, along with Laurent Labit from next season. He asked me if, in the future more or less close, I would be interested in becoming a coach”Parra continued. “I had prepared. If it wasn’t this year, it would have been the next.”