Wales prop Tomas Francis has been banned for eight weeks after making contact with Dan Cole's eye during a Six Nations match at the weekend.
The Exeter Chiefs player was cited after he committed the action late in Wales's 25-21 defeat to England at Twickenham on Saturday.
The original punishment for the incident was 12 weeks, but the disciplinary panel reduced the suspension to eight.
A statement read: "Tomas Francis, the Wales replacement prop forward, appeared today before an independent Six Nations disciplinary committee in London, having been cited by an independent citing commissioner for allegedly making contact with the eye or eye area of an opponent in the RBS 6 Nations match between England and Wales at Twickenham on Saturday, 12 March 2016.
"The disciplinary committee, chaired by Pat Barriscale (Ireland) along with Jean-Philippe Lachaume (France) and George Spotswood (Ireland), having considered all of the evidence, including various clips of TV footage, and listened to representations by, and on behalf, of Mr Francis, found that he had recklessly made contact with the eye or eye area of an opponent, which had been worthy of a red card.
"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."
Francis, who has the right to appeal, will be eligible to play again on May 9.
Danielle Joynson
