Armitage banned after Paterson tackle

Delon Armitage has been banned from England’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final against France after pleading guilty to a “dangerous high tackle” on Scotland’s Chris Paterson.

The England wing was punished at a disciplinary hearing in Auckland yesterday. The independent judicial officer, Bruce Squire QC, halved Armitage’s potential ban after taking into account a number of mitigating factors. Armitage would be available to play in the semi-finals, should England beat France in Auckland on Saturday.

England have a ready-made replacement for Armitage in the form of Mark Cueto, who missed out on facing Scotland despite scoring a quick-fire hat-trick against Romania.

Cueto had played 29 consecutive games for England before a back injury ruled him out of their World Cup victories over Argentina and Georgia. The Sale wing admitted he “spat the dummy” after England manager Martin Johnson opted to start with Armitage on the left wing against Scotland.

Johnson confirmed the versatile Matt Banahan is also an option to replace to Armitage, although he may be required to cover the centres if Tindall fails to recover from a dead leg.

England’s concerns over the fitness of Jonny Wilkinson continued for another day as they wait to discover whether the arm injury he suffered against Scotland will rule him out of the France game.

“It’s a shame to lose Delon as he has played well but these things happen and we have some quality wings in Mark Cueto and Matt Banahan to chose from,” Johnson said.

“Both (Tindall and Wilkinson) are responding to treatment so we will just have to see where they are up to when we get back into weights and light training tomorrow.”