France's Ntamack to miss England game after red card
Men's Six Nations: England v France
Date: Saturday, 8 February Kick-off: 16:45 GMT Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds, with live text commentary on the BBC Sport website
Romain Ntamack will miss France's Six Nations match against England at Allianz Stadium on Saturday through suspension.
The fly-half was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Ben Thomas in the closing stages of France's 43-0 win over Wales in Paris on 31 January.
At a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday, Ntamack received a ban of three weeks/matches. However, that sanction may be reduced to two weeks/matches if the 25-year-old completes World Rugby's Coaching Intervention Programme.
Details of when Ntamack can return to action will be confirmed in due course.
The Toulouse player was initially shown a yellow card after making shoulder-to-head contact with Thomas, but that punishment was upgraded following an off-field review.
The disciplinary committee determined that the mid-range entry point of a six week/match suspension was appropriate for Ntamack's foul play.
After taking into account his guilty plea and previous disciplinary record, that punishment was reduced by 50%.
Ntamack was making his first international appearance for more than a year against Wales.
A serious knee injury caused the Toulouse star to miss a home Rugby World Cup in 2023 and last year's Six Nations, while he did not feature in his country's autumn internationals because of a calf problem.
After Saturday's game at Twickenham, France's remaining Six Nations fixtures are against Italy (23 February), Ireland (8 March) and Scotland (15 March).
