Worcester Warriors' Chris Pennell also banned for two weeks
Wednesday 5 December 2018 18:02, UK
Leicester Tigers centre Kyle Eastmond has been banned for four weeks following a dangerous tackle on Bristol's Ian Madigan.
The England international, who won the last of his six caps in 2014, was dismissed by referee Wayne Barnes following a high tackle on the Bristol fly-half Madigan.
The Rugby Football Union announced the suspension following Eastmond's appearance before a three-man independent disciplinary panel in Coventry on Tuesday.
Leicester lost the match 41-10 at Ashton Gate, but they trailed by just six points when Eastmond was shown a red card in the 25th minute.
The RFU said: "Eastmond plead guilty to the charge and was suspended for four weeks by the independent disciplinary panel comprising of John Brennan [chair], Matt Bayliss and Tony Wheat. He is free to play again on 1 January 2019."
Eastmond will miss Leicester's home and away European Champions Cup appointments with Racing 92, plus Premiership fixtures against Harlequins and his former club Bath.
Panel chairman Brennan added: "The player accepted the charge and accepted through his representative that the entry point was mid-range due to there being direct contact to the head of the opponent.
"The panel acknowledged his plea, his remorse for the incident and his apology, but could not give the player full mitigation of 50 per cent due to his having been sanctioned for dangerous tackling last season.
"As such, the entry point was reduced by two weeks rather than three."
Worcester Warriors' Chris Pennell has also been banned for two weeks after he pleaded guilty to tackling Gloucester's Charlie Sharples whose feet were off the ground causing him to land in a dangerous position.
