Curtis Langdon has been suspended for four weeks following an independent Disciplinary Hearing.
The hooker was sent off by the referee, Tual Trainini (France), in the 39th minute Northampton Saints’ clash with Munster Rugby last Saturday at Thomond Park.
Langdon was shown a red card for making reckless contact to the head of the Munster Rugby second row, Thomas Ahern, in contravention of Law 9.11.
An independent Disciplinary Committee comprising Rhian Williams (Wales), Chair, Bogdan Zebega (Romania) and Jamie Corsi (Wales) studied video imagery of the incident, and heard evidence from Langdon who accepted the red card decision.
The committee upheld the red card decision and determined that Langdon should be sanctioned for striking with the knee. It then decided that the offending was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions and eight weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point.
Taking into account the player’s guilty plea and his clear disciplinary record, the committee decided to reduce the sanction by the maximum of 50% before imposing a four-week suspension.
The date when Langdon can return to play will be determined once the committee has received full details of his future playing schedule.