Saracens flanker Michael Rhodes has been banned for his cheapshot on Levi Douglas.

The Bath Rugby forward was guarding a ruck in the first half of the 18-9 home win at the Rec last Friday night when Rhodes charged him with his shoulder and made contact with Douglas' head.

Rhodes was cited, charged with dangerous play in a ruck or maul and faced a disciplinary panel in London tonight.

He admitted the charge and was given a three-week ban. He is free to play again on April 2.

Panel chair Daniel White said: “The player accepted that he had committed an act of foul play in that he made contact with the head of the Bath player.

"The panel considered the actions of the player in detail and were assisted by hearing the player's account of events as well as reading the detailed citing report.

"Actions such as this have the potential to cause serious injury, albeit in this case no injury was caused. 

"The World Rugby Sanction table mandates that when contact is made to the head, such as was not disputed in this case, we must use the mid-range entry point (six weeks) or above.

Levi Douglas on the charge

"We did not consider that this case merited a top-end entry point for the reasons which will be explained within the detailed judgment.

"We gave the player the maximum permissible credit of 50% on account of his acceptance of the charge, his record (which included only one previous disciplinary matter from 2011 and was not considered relevant for the purposes of this hearing) and his remorse shown and in so doing impose a total sanction of three weeks' suspension.”

Here's the hit for which Rhodes got banned...