The Stade Francais player was punished after being found guilty of making contact with the eyes of All Blacks lock Isaac Ross. Television footage was used to prove the case and the international disciplinary panel subsequently slapped him with an eight-week ban despite concluding he had not acted intentionally.

The fact Ross was not injured helped in mitigation as a standard 12-week ban was reduced down to eight, but it still means that Parisse will be ineligible to play for Stade Francais until September 26.

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The ban could have a beneficial side affect for England back-row forward James Haskell, who has signed to join the Paris club this summer.

Elsewhere, Stade's Argentine fly-half/full-back Juan Martin Hernandez is reportedly considering his future at the Paris club.

Hernandez was close to signing for Leicester Tigers last year and experienced an indifferent season with Stade in 2008/9. Now, according to reports in the French press, Paris rivals Racing-Metro 92, big-spending Toulon and Basque outfit Bayonne are all chasing his signature.

Stade president Max Guazzini is unlikely to countenance selling off a major asset to Racing, leaving Bayonne and Toulon in pole position. Reports in Midi-Olympique suggest Hernandez is cool on the idea of moving to the Basque coast - and to a club with no other Argentine internationals - paving the way for Toulon to pounce.

Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal has already splashed the cash to bring in England World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson, but the prospect of luring Hernandez might just prove too tempting to refuse. Toulon also boast Argentine Juan Martin Lobbe among their many summer recruits.

"This is a player that we look at but he is very expensive, and a penalty is still only worth three points," Boudjellal told Var Matin.

Argentina’s former Stade Francais scrum-half Agustin Pichot finally pulled the curtain down on his illustrious career at the weekend when he was joined by friends and ex-team-mates for a celebratory afternoon at CASI, the club where he started his career.

Pichot captained Argentina to third place at the 2007 Rugby World Cup and also enjoyed successful spells with both Stade Francais and Racing-Metro 92, as well as at Richmond and Bristol.

The scrum-half won 72 international caps for the Pumas before retiring after the 2007 World Cup. Having already won the French Championship with Stade Francais in 2003, 2004 and 2007, he then moved to Racing-Metro in 2007/8.

He initially retired at the end of that season but was lured back to Stade Francais midway through last season before an injury in April finally forced his hand.

The 34-year-old was carried off the pitch at CASI after a game of three ‘halves’ had attracted more than 3,000 supporters. Stade Francaise and Argentina colleague Hernandez was among a host of Puma stars on the field, with all players wearing the No 9 shirt in tribute to Pichot.

The former national captain also got a visit from Argentina’s football coach Diego Maradona, who said Pichot would “remain in people’s hearts and minds for everything he did for the Pumas”.

While Julien Dupuy has now been confirmed as Pichot’s immediate successor at Stade – following Leicester’s agreement to let him go – it seems that English student Charlie Davies could be their long-term future scrum-half.

The 19-year-old Nottingham player signed terms with the Paris club last week after impressing during a mid-season trial period. He is still trying to come to terms with the enormity of the move, but acknowledges that he’ll have to prove himself in the Espoirs first before he will be given a shot in the first team.

The youngster will swap his current studies at Nottingham Trent University for a place at the prestigious Sorbonne University as part of the deal, and credited his parents for his stunning progress to date.

“My parents have been my biggest supporters, they are really the ones who have helped me. My dad is very enthusiastic about the game and he has kept me enjoying it. If I didn’t get selected for something my mum has always said to me to show myself when I was 18 or 19 because that’s when it really matters,” he said.

“I would also like to say thanks to Nottingham because they have given me a lot of help to be where I am now and I’ve had the best year of rugby of my life here,” added Davies.

Stade have also been in the news due to a growing petition against their plans replace the ageing Stade de Jean Bouin with a new all-seater stadium.

The petition “demands action against the construction of a rugby stadium with 20,000 seats less than 50 metres from the Parcs des Princes, at a cost that will be 100% funded by the taxpayer”.