England secondrow Charlie Ewels has been banned for three weeks after his 82-second sending-off in the Six Nations against Ireland on Saturday.
An independent judicial committee ruled that a number of mitigating factors enabled Ewels to avoid a longer ban based on World Rugby’s regulations concerning contact with the head.
The ruling means Ewels will miss England's next match against France on March 19th as well as Bath's games against Sale and Worcester Warriors this month – although the final match may also be substituted if Ewels undertakes a coaching intervention programme.
In a statement, the panel said it had determined that "the act of foul play was reckless as a result of the player's poor tackle technique", and noted that Ewels had admitted his tackle on James Ryan had been worthy of a red card.
The statement added: “The player never lowers, or attempts to lower, his body height before contact with the ball carrier resulting in a forceful clash of heads.
“The player had a good line of sight of the ball carrier and was in control of his actions coming into contact. There was no sudden and significant drop or movement by the ball carrier prior to contact.
On that basis, the committee applied World Rugby’s mandatory minimum mid-range entry point for foul play resulting in contact with the head. This resulted in a starting point of a six-week suspension.
“Having acknowledged mitigating factors including, the player’s early acceptance of the red card, his remorse and contrition for his offending, his relatively unblemished disciplinary record over a long playing career and his good character and conduct at the hearing, the committee reduced the six-week entry point by three weeks, resulting in a sanction of three weeks.”
England battled well in the match despite Ewels’ early departure but ultimately fell to a 32-15 defeat.
Ryan had to be replaced following the tackle and has been ruled out of Ireland's final Six Nations match against Scotland as he follows return-to-play protocols after suffering concussion.
