French scrum-half Morgan Parra will be available to face New Zealand in France's opening November Test after his ban for violent play was reduced from four to two weeks on Thursday.
The Clermont player was suspended for having punched Bordeaux-Begles's Gautier Gibouin several times during a Top 14 league match on September 29.
The decision to lighten his punishment, made by the French Rugby Federation's appeal committee, will come as welcome news to France coach Philippe Saint-Andre after he lost the services of another key scrum-half, Maxime Machenaud, to injury.
Parra, who is free to play from Thursday, was a member of the France side that lost 8-7 to the All Blacks in the 2011 World Cup final.
France play New Zealand in Paris on November 9 before heading to Le Havre to play Tonga a week later and returning to the capital to round off their tests against South Africa on November 23.
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