Owen Franks' lawyer says the All Black tried to apologise to James Parsons
Crusaders tighhead prop Owen Franks tried to apologise to Blues hooker James Parsons, his lawyer says.
Owen Franks' lawyer says the Crusaders player attempted to apologise to Blues hooker James Parsons for hitting him in the head during their Super Rugby clash.
Parsons said on Thursday that he had not received an apology, even though Franks got a discount at his disciplinary hearing because the tribunal was told he had apologised.
At a Sanzaar foul play review committee hearing, Franks pleaded guilty to striking Parsons in the head during the Crusaders' 32-24 win over the Blues at Eden Park last Saturday.
The All Blacks prop was facing a four-week suspension but his ban was halved due to his "good [disciplinary] record over an extensive playing history" and because he "expressed remorse and apology to the other player", a Sanzaar statement read.
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But Parsons said Franks had offered no apology.
"I haven't spoken to him since the incident. Obviously, we shook hands as teams do after the game but I didn't speak to him," he told Radio Sport. "I haven't received an apology – unless he's gone via email form or letter form to Blues management."
Franks' lawyer, Aaron Lloyd, said the prop had reached out to Parsons after the game.
"He tried to," Lloyd told Radio Sport.
"I'm told by Owen that after the game he reached out to James to apologise, and James, by the sounds of it, wasn't in the mood to talk with him and you can sort of understand why," Lloyd said. "So what the judiciary were told was exactly that.
Blues captain James Parsons says he's received no apology from Owen Franks for hitting him on the head.
"I understand James has come out and said 'well, he hasn't apologised to me' and I suspect that's right. But I think if everyone pauses for a minute and everyone talks about it I think you'll probably find that James will probably accept that he [Franks] might have tried to," Lloyd told Radio Sport.
"What do you do in that situation if you're Owen Franks? You want to say sorry to the guy. Owen Franks is Owen Franks, he's not a big social media kind of guy. He's not going out to post it all over his website or blog or whatever it is, because I don't think he has got one. And in any event it's a private thing."
James Parsons leaving the field during the Blues' defeat to the Crusaders at Eden Park last Saturday.
"It becomes a little cynical when it becomes a public apology, I think."
Lloyd questioned what Franks could have done given that Parsons didn't want to speak to him.
Franks had told the committee that he had attempted to apologise, but the subsequent Sanzaar press release that said he had apologised might not be strictly accurate, Lloyd said.
Parsons, 31, said earlier that any subsequent ban was irrelevant because he would have preferred to see have seen Franks face punishment during the game.
"Two weeks, four weeks, whatever it is it doesn't change the result for us. I would have liked to have seen something done on the night."
Owen Franks won't be back on the rugby field until the All Blacks first test against France next month.
Fellow Crusaders and All Blacks prop Joe Moody also copped a two-week ban the previous week for striking Waratahs and Wallabies star Kurtley Beale.
Franks will be available for the first All Blacks test against France at Eden Park on June 9.
- Stuff
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