Wales rugby player Davies banned for 7 weeks

Wales second row Bradley Davies was ruled out of the remainder of the Six Nations on Wednesday after being banned for seven weeks for a "tip tackle" in the victory over Ireland last weekend. The Cardiff Blues Davies was sin-binned for the incident in the second-half at Lansdowne Road but was widely considered to have been lucky to escape red after upending Ireland forward Donnacha Ryan. Davies' punishment was decided at a disciplinary hearing in London. It was revealed Davies could have been banned for up to 12 weeks but saw his punishment set at seven weeks because of his guilty plea and previous good record. In a statement, the Six Nations said: "They (the committee) found that the incident in which the player lifted his opponent beyond a horizontal position but did not bring him to the ground safely contrary to Law 10.4(j) and the IRB's (International Rugby Board's) particular emphasis on this aspect of the game, merited a top end entry to the IRB's table of sanctions. "The committee applied an additional two weeks to the entry point of 10 weeks to reflect the need for a deterrent for this type of foul play. "But, in mitigation, took account of various factors in the player's favour, including his admission of guilt, his previous good disciplinary record and his conduct at the hearing in allowing the maximum possible reduction of five weeks. "Bradley Davies can resume playing on 26 March 2012, and has the right of appeal." The hearing was due to rule on the citing of Ireland forward Stephen Ferris later Wednesday.