Rugby: Hooker banned for six months

LONDON - Northampton Saints rugby hooker Dylan Hartley has been suspended for six months for eye-gouging opponents during an English championship match, the Premiership club said today.

Hartley was found guilty of "illegally making contact with the eye or eye areas of James Haskell and Jonny O'Connor during the Premiership game against London Wasps on Sunday, April 15", the club said on its website.

The suspension, which lasts until October 17, puts the 21-year old Hartley out of contention for a place in the England squad for the May-June two-test tour of South Africa and the World Cup in France which starts on September 7.

- REUTERS