World Cup blow for banned Hartley
England bad boy Dylan Hartley will not be eligible to play in the first match of the World Cup later this year, if he is named in the final squad, after being suspended for four weeks.
The 29-year-old hooker – capped 66 times – received the suspension after pleading guilty at a disciplinary hearing, for head-butting Saracens Jamie George during the second half of his club Northampton's Premiership semifinal defeat last Saturday.
The New Zealand-born forward will miss England's three World Cup warm-up games and the tournament opener against Fiji at Twickenham on September 18.
He will have to wait and see whether England coach Stuart Lancaster will overlook his most recent indiscretion of many and select him in the final squad.
Lancaster will name a final 31-man squad in late-August.
In total Hartley has been banned for 50 weeks during his career, including a 26-week suspension for eye-gouging in 2007 and an eight-week ban for biting in 2012.
Two years ago, he was banned for 11 weeks after being sent off for abusing referee Wayne Barnes during the Premiership Final against Leicester, causing him to miss the British and Irish Lions' tour of Australia.
Leicester's Tom Youngs is expected to be Lancaster's first-choice hooker at the World Cup, but the England coach would be loath to lose a player of Hartley's experience.
In a statement the Rugby Football Union said Hartley had pleaded guilty to an act contrary to Law 10.4(a).
His suspension commences on August 15 and he is free to play again on September 21.
Sean Enright, who chaired the disciplinary hearing alongside Mike Hamlin and Tony Wheat, said: "This offence falls within the low entry point for striking with the head.
"There was no significant injury to the other party, the opposition player was not removed from the field of play and the incident did not affect the game.
"However, there cannot be any place in our game for this class of behaviour, and that is why we have imposed this sanction."
Hartley's roll call of shame
Previous disciplinary infractions by Dylan Hartley:
April 2007: Banned for 26 weeks after gouging Wasps' duo James Haskell and Jonny O'Connor.
March 2012: Banned for eight weeks for biting Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris during Six Nations match.
June 2012: Yellow-carded in first game as England captain against South Africa.
December 2012: Given a two-week ban for striking Ulster's Rory Best.
May 2013: Eleven-week ban after being sent off for swearing at the referee, which cost him a place in the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia – his place went to Best.
December 2014: Banned for three weeks for elbowing Leicester's Matt Smith.
Sources: AFP & rugby365
