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Marler's flurry of punches in reaction also earned him a red card from international referee Wayne Barnes and both players hadtheir cases heard by an RFU Disciplinary Panel today. RFU Disciplinary Officer Jeff Blackett was joined by Philip Evans and Jeremy Summers on the panel.
Both players pleaded guilty to to striking an opponent and were issued with two week suspensions which rule them out of European quarter-final action this weekend. Tigers play Leinster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday night, while Harlequins host London Wasps at the Twickenham Stoop on Friday night in the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
"This was unacceptable behaviour which was captured on live television and not something we want to see in our game. That said, both offences were deemed to have a low end entry point for sanction," explained HH Judge Blackett.
"The starting point for Ayerza striking with the head was four weeks, reduced to two for his guilty plea and relatively good record. Marler's sanction did not alter from the two-week entry point because, despite his guilty plea, his previous disciplinary record counted against him."
Despite the set-back of losing his loose-head prop, Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill was happy to have seen his side qualify for the Aviva Premiership Play-Offs and make it two big away wins in a row as they prepare to head to Dublin.
"Winning is a good habit to have but we don't think everything is great just because we've got the win," Cockerill said after victory at The Stoop.
"We didn't have a good first-half, but we regrouped at half-time and got back into it."
