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Flanker Sam Underhill will miss the rest of Bath’s season after being given a four-week ban for a dangerous tackle during the club’s European Challenge Cup final victory against Lyon.
Underhill was shown a yellow card for the head-on-head collision with Lyon full-back Davit Niniashvili in the 26th minute.
The England international was cited on Monday for the incident, and an independent panel upheld the complaint that it warranted a red card.
Underhill will be unavailable for Bath’s match against Saracens on Saturday, as well as their Premiership semi-final on Friday, 6 June.
He would be unavailable if the club were to reach the Premiership final at Twickenham on 14 June, and if selected for England this summer, would also be unavailable to face France on 21 June and potentially Argentina on 5 July.
The tackle was reviewed by referee Hollie Davidson and the television match officials during the game, with a change in direction from Niniashvili before the collision deemed a mitigating factor to downgrade the incident from red to yellow.
At a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, Underhill accepted he had committed an act of foul play but did not accept it warranted a red card.
The committee determined it was a mid-range offence, which would warrant a six-week ban, and downgraded it to four due to Underhill’s remorse. But they were unable to reduce it further due to his prior record.
The 28-year-old was given a three-week ban in April after also being sent off by Davidson during Bath’s Challenge Cup quarter-final victory against Lyon in April.
Underhill, who has 41 caps for England, has made 13 appearances for Bath this season.