Dylan Hartley had been hit with a six-week following his red card in the Champions Cup last Friday.
The England captain had only been on the field for six minutes in Northampton‘/s European clash against Leinster at Franklin’s Gardens when he was sent off by referee Jerome Garces for a swinging arm on Sean O’Brien.
Hartley appeared at a disciplinary hearing in London and was subsequently banned.
In upholding the red card decision, the Committee found that the offence was at the mid-range of World Rugby‘s sanctions and selected five weeks as the appropriate entry point.
Taking into account Hartley’s poor disciplinary record, the Committee added two weeks to the sanction and then reduced the sanction by one week due to the player’s guilty plea before imposing a suspension of six weeks.
Hartley is free to play on Monday, 23 January 2017 And will therefore be available to play for England in the Six Nations.