England captain Dylan Hartley banned for six weeks

England skipper Dylan Hartley will be available to lead the team in the upcoming Six Nations campaign next year after his ban for an incident involving Sean O'Brien was limited to six weeks.

The incident happened during the European Champions Cup, where Hartley was representing his club Northampton Saints and was sent off by 57th minute - six minutes after he made the appearance in the game - for performing a stiff arm tackle on Leinster flanker O'Brien.

The 30-year-old appeared before an independent disciplinary hearing on Wednesday evening where the panel found him guilty of the charges and stated that the offence was at the mid-range sanction of five weeks. However, considering Hartley's poor disciplinary record, two more weeks were added to the tally which was further reduced to one after the Northampton Saints hooker pleaded guilty.

The latest sanction has taken the number of weeks Hartley was suspended in his career to 60 now.

The news will be relief for England camp as Hartley will now be available to their Six Nations campaign in February 2017, however, he will facing a stiff challenge of getting into the tournament without much match practice.

Prior to the start of the autumn internationals, England coach Eddie Jones urged Hartley to improve his conditioning after he was sidelined by a concussion and a back problem which he sustained earlier.

"Physically he's not at his best for this series, he's probably 80-90 per cent mark. He needs to rectify that for the Six Nations," Jones said before the autumn internationals.

Earlier, Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie stated that Hartley will have the full support of the board and coach Jones irrespective of the outcome from the disciplinary hearing.

"I think Dylan's got credit in the bank," Ritchie said.

"I think most people would say it's been a fantastic year. We've had 13 wins out of 13 and Dylan has made a huge contribution and he should be allowed to continue that.

"Dylan has clearly played a fantastic part in captaining the team, on and off the pitch just to be clear. His leadership credentials are very strong. He's made a huge contribution.

"So you view all these things in perspective and in perspective one looks at the totality of what he's done and what's happened over the years. I think we should be supportive of that."

Dylan Hartley will miss the following six games for Northampton Saints

Leinster, December 17, Champions Cup, Aviva Stadium
Sale, December 23, Aviva Premiership, Franklin's Gardens
Gloucester, January 1, Aviva Premiership, Kingsholm
Bristol, January 7, Aviva Premiership, Franklin's Gardens
Castres, January 13/14/15, Champions Cup, Franklin's Gardens
Montpellier, January 20/21/22, Champions Cup, Altrad Stadium