Craig Willis banned for four weeks

Newcastle Falcons fly-half Craig Willis has been handed a four-week suspension by the Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel after he was found guilty of 'tip-tackling' charges during his side's recent Anglo-Welsh Cup clash against Saracens.

It was in the 69th minute in the game, Willis performed an illegal tackle on Saracens centre Nick Tompkins and was sent-off by referee Mike Adamson.

The 21-year-old appeared in front of the RFU disciplinary panel on Tuesday in Leeds and was found guilty of the charges. His four-week suspension will keep him out of action until 13th December.

The panel said in its judgment: "The tackle started off legitimately, it being a technique he is specifically coached to carry out, however it did not end up as intended and having lifted the player off the ground the first point of contact between the Saracens player and the ground was the top of the shoulder. There was no injury caused.

"The panel followed the World Rugby memoranda for tackles of this nature and increased the low end entry point of four weeks by one week. A number of mitigating features enabled the panel to reduce the sanction by one week but not two as he did not accept the referee's award of the red card."