Morné Steyn & Mosese Ratuvou

South African international flyhalf Morné Steyn is free to play for his French club, Stade Francais, in their European Challenge Cup game.

Steyn was handed a 1-match ban on Wednesday, by the National Rugby League – the body controlling the French leagues.

The 30-year-old Steyn, who had asked for his disciplinary hearing to be moved forward from next week to Wednesday, had already missed the Top 14 clash with Castres this past weekend – an encounter that Stade won 49-13 at home.

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The 1-week ban follows an incident in the Top 14 encounter between Stade and Lyon on January 2, when the Springbok was red-carded for kicking Fijian Mosese Ratuvou.

Lyon, playing at home, won 12-9.

It was taken into account that Steyn missed last week’s home game and it means he is free to play against Romanian outfit Bucharest on Saturday, if selected.

For his part, Ratuvou also received a 1-game suspension after he was cited for being ‘overly aggressive’ in the match with Stade.

The Fijian will not be able to play in Lyon’s European Challenge Cup meeting with Edinburgh on Saturday.

Steyn had accused Ratuvou of eye-gouging him, a claim supported by video evidence.

However, the NRL reduced the charge to ‘overly aggressive’ and handed the wing a 1-week ban.