England's Billy Vunipola has joined captain Owen Farrell in being banned for the start of next month's Rugby World Cup after receiving a three-week suspension for his red card in a warm-up match against Ireland, officials announced Wednesday.
Vunipola was initially sent to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle on Andrew Porter during Saturday's 29-10 defeat in Dublin, but the offence was upgraded to a red by the bunker review system.
An independent disciplinary hearing reduced the entry-level ban of six weeks to three because of mitigating factors and Vunipola, the only specialist No 8 in England's World Cup squad, will have another week removed if he attends World Rugby's 'tackle school'.
The Saracens back-row is now ruled out of England's final warm-up fixture against Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday and their key tournament opener against Argentina on September 9.
