England prop Joe Marler hit with 10-week ban for grabbing Alun Wyn Jones by the testicles

Harlequins forward escaped sanction during the game

Joe Marler has received a 10-week ban

England forward Joe Marler has been hit with a ten-week ban as punishment for grabbing Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones by the testicles during an incident-packed Six Nations clash between England and Wales at Twickenham last weekend.

The Harlequins prop was hauled before disciplinary chiefs in Dublin on Thursday, with team-mates Manu Tuilagi and Courtney Lawes also cited for flashpoints in the fixture.

Marler, 29, was charged with acting against the spirit of good sportsmanship by “grabbing, twisting or squeezing the genitals” of an opposition player.

The internationalist accepted that he had committed an act of foul play, but denied that he had grabbed, twisted or squeezed Wyn Jones’ genitals, and did not accept that it warranted a red card.

However the disciplinary committee found that Marler had committed an act of foul play warranting a red card and so the charge was upheld.

Marler would have been banned for 12 weeks but the committee knocked three weeks off the suspension to account for mitigating factors including good character and remorse, but added another week to reflect the player’s recent disciplinary record.

Marler will be free to play again on Monday June 8 2020.

Tuilagi was given a four-week suspension for committing an act of foul play in a tackle on Wales No.14 George North, while Lawes escaped punishment after the committee ruled that he had committed an act of foul play but not one worthy of a red card.