NORTHAMPTON AND ENGLAND hooker Dylan Hartley has been given just a six-week suspension by a disciplinary committee in London today.
Hartley was cited under Law 10.4 (a) after being red carded for striking the back of Sean O’Brien’s head just six minutes after being introduced as a replacement in Northampton’s Champions Cup home defeat to Leinster last Friday.
Today’s disciplinary committee, chaired by Wales’ Simon Thomas, ruled that the offence deserved a mid-range sanction of five weeks. Two weeks were added for Hartley’s poor disciplinary record – a grand total of 54 weeks suspended before today – but one was retracted again owing to the 30-year-old’s guilty plea.
The suspension means that the England captain will have been suspended for 60 weeks in his career when he is free to play again from Monday 23 January. He will be available for the entire Six Nations campaign which, for England, begins with the visit of France on 4 February.
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