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Tomas Francis has received an eight-week ban for making contact with the “eye or eye area” of England forward Dan Cole
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The 23-year-old appeared before an independent Six Nations disciplinary committee in London on Tuesday after being cited
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His suspension means that he cannot play again until May 9
Wales prop Tomas Francis has been banned for eight weeks by an independent Six Nations disciplinary committee for ‘recklessly making contact with the eye or eye area’ of England prop Dan Cole during last Saturday’s match at Twickenham, the RBS Six Nations has announced.
The 23-year-old committed the offence in Wales’ 25-21 defeat and faced a disciplinary committee hearing.
He will now miss the rest of his club’s regular season games, although he would be eligible to play in the Champions Cup final if Exeter make it.
Francis can return on Monday, 9 May.
“The disciplinary committee heard submissions on sanction before concluding that the offending be characterised as being at the lower end of World Rugby’s scale of seriousness for this type of offending, which has an entry point of 12 weeks.
“The disciplinary committee was then required to consider aggravating and mitigating factors, which it did before concluding that the appropriate sanction be a playing suspension of eight weeks.
“Mr Francis is free to play again on Monday, 9 May 2016. He was reminded of his right of appeal.”
Francis had gone on during the second half at Twickenham as Wales looked to recover from a 16-0 interval deficit.
Following the incident, though, match referee Craig Joubert took no action against the player in terms of a yellow or red card after reviewing it on big screen replays inside the stadium.