Anxious wait for Armitage

Armitage" Waits for decision

Steffon Armitage will have to wait until next week to discover whether he will be banned by the French Rugby Federation for failing a drugs test.

Armitage attended a two-hour hearing of the FFR's anti-doping commission in Marcoussis on Friday, at the end of which he was told the verdict would be published at some point next week.

The Toulon flanker tested positive for morphine, a prohibited substance, following last season's Top 14 final defeat by Toulouse but he has always vehemently expressed his innocence.

Toulon's explanation is that the result was caused by side-effects from painkillers and anti-inflammatories Armitage had been prescribed for back pain, which the club say are approved by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD).

Armitage was provisionally suspended but that was lifted in August. The original anti-doping hearing was then postponed from August 21 after the player asked to have his B sample tested.

Capped five times by England, Armitage has been in good form since moving from London Irish to Toulon in the summer of 2011.