England wing Chris Ashton has been suspended for the start of his country’s November Tests.
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Ashton has been suspended for one week, following an Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing in London on Wednesday.
The Saracens wing is sidelined from Sunday November 4 to Saturday November 10 and free to play again on Sunday November 11.
That means he will miss the match against Fiji on November 10.
He appeared before the panel of Jeff Blackett, Jeremy Summers and Julian Morris – after receiving three yellow cards for foul play this season.
Ashton received a post-match Level One citing – treated in the regulations as a yellow card for the totting up system – for a dangerous tackle on Vasily Artemyev in last Saturday’s Premiership match at Northampton Saints.
Earlier this season he was shown yellow cards for dangerous charging in the matches against London Irish (September 1) and Exeter Chiefs (September 23).
Blackett said: “We were guided by the IRB recommendation that a one week suspension was appropriate for totting up offences.
“The player was not released back to his club by England for Saracens’ game on Sunday [November 4], so it would be inappropriate to commence the suspension immediately.
“We have therefore deferred commencement until Sunday November 4, so he misses a game he would have played in.”
The wing has also been warned about his future conduct.
“We are concerned about his tackling technique and encouraged that he and his coaches work to correct it,” Blackett said.
“We would like to add that Chris Ashton took a realistic and mature approach to proceedings and expressed genuine contrition.”