Northampton Saints’ Dylan Hartley has been suspended for three weeks by the Rugby Football Union for elbowing Leicester’s Matt Smith.
England hooker Hartley caught Tigers centre Smith off the ball during Saturday’s 23-19 Premiership win.
The 28-year-old, who pleaded guilty, will miss games against Harlequins, Newcastle and Sale. It is the fifth time he has been banned.
England start their Six Nations campaign against Wales on 6 February.
An elbowing offence carries a minimum two-week ban, but Jeremy Summers, the judicial officer who heard the case by conference call, said the suspension “reflects the player’s record rather than the seriousness of the offence itself”.
Analysis: BBC Radio 5 live’s Chris Jones |
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“A ban of this length was expected and Hartley is available well in time for England’s opening match of the Six Nations against Wales. While England head coach Stuart Lancaster must decide whether Hartley’s many credentials outweigh his disciplinary issues, he is unlikely to take drastic action.” |
In April 2007, Hartley was banned for 26 weeks for gouging Wasps forwards James Haskell and Jonny O’Connor.
He was suspended for eight weeks in March 2012 after he bit Ireland’s Stephen Ferris while playing for England in the Six Nations, and was banned for two weeks later that year for striking Ulster’s Rory Best.
Verbal abuse of a Premiership match official in 2013 earned him an 11-week ban which cost him a place on the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia.
Hartley will be available again for Northampton’s European Cup game against Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium on 18 January.
Hartley, who was born in New Zealand, has won 61 caps for England since making his debut in 2008.
