Elliot Daly hit with three-week suspension after red card against Argentina

Elliot Daly will miss Wasps' upcoming European Champions Cup double-header against reigning Pro12 champions Connacht in addition to England's decisive autumn clash with Australia after being handed a reduced three-week ban by World Rugby. Such a punishment comes after the versatile back was dismissed after just five minutes of Saturday's (26 November) eventful 27-14 victory over Argentina.

Having taken out and inadvertently concussed Pumas number eight Leonardo Senatore in the air with a tackle that was more mistimed rather than malicious or intentional, Daly was shown a red card by French referee Pascal Gauzere and followed Mike Burton, Danny Grewcock, Simon Shaw and Lewis Moody as only the fifth England player in history to be sent off in a Test match. Head coach Eddie Jones refused to criticise the 24-year-old in his post-match press conference, claiming that he had made a " judgement error" that would not influence his selection plans ahead of the 2017 Six Nations tournament.

Daly was always set to miss out against Australia as England, who battled superbly to beat Argentina despite twice going down to 13 men when Dan Cole and Joe Marler were sent to the sin bin, seek to match Sir Clive Woodward's formidable 2003 squad with a record-equalling 14th consecutive victory and also go through a calendar year unbeaten for the first time in 24 years.

However, Wasps director of rugby Dai Young claimed following his second-place side's 34-24 Aviva Premiership bonus-point win over Sale Sharks yesterday that being sent off at Twickenham was a big punishment for the player and that he hoped he did not "get the double whammy of any length of ban".

In a statement released on Monday afternoon, World Rugby's disciplinary committee, chaired by Kathrine Mackie and also featuring Derek Bevan and Hugo Southwell, confirmed that Daly accepted he had committed an act of foul play that warranted a red card.

"Having viewed video footage of the incident, listened to evidence and representations from and on behalf of the player, and reviewed all of the other evidence, the disciplinary committee found that Mr Daly had acted recklessly and that the offending merited a mid-range entry point based on World Rugby's scale of seriousness, which carries a six-week playing suspension.

"The Disciplinary Committee further found that there were no aggravating factors and that there were a number of mitigating factors (including Mr Daly's acknowledgement of wrongdoing, expression of remorse to the injured player and his good conduct at the hearing) such that his playing suspension be reduced by three weeks. Mr Daly is therefore suspended from playing rugby for a total of three weeks, up to and including Sunday 18 December 2016."

In addition to missing both Pool 2 meetings with Connacht, Daly will also sit out this weekend as Wasps visit struggling Worcester Warriors. However, he almost certainly would have missed that match anyway due to international commitments. The player will be eligible to return in a Christmas Eve fixture against Bath at the Ricoh Arena.