Hartley citing dismissed but Marler suspended

3:16 PM BST

Dylan Hartley's citing was dismissed by a disciplinary committee on Wednesday but Joe Marler will miss England's first two autumn internationals after being hit with a three-week suspension.

Hartley was cited for striking Clermont Auvergne prop Rabah Slimani in the 30th minute of their Champions Cup match on Saturday and was shown a yellow card at the time by Ben Whitehouse.

The England captain pleaded not guilty to the charge of 'striking with the hand' -- a charge that carries a low end suspension of two weeks and top end of anything up to a year -- and after a hearing of three hours, the committee found him to have committed a reckless act of foul play but said it did not warrant a red card.

ESPN understands the England captain's case was aided by a character reference from Eddie Jones -- he also submitted these for Marler and Nathan Hughes -- and a letter from Slimani, saying it was an unintentional act.

"The decision to cite Dylan from Saturday's game against Clermont was unjustified," Northampton coach Jim Mallinder said, who attended the hearing.

"Citings like this do beg the question of whether Dylan is being singled out for what has happened in the past rather than being judged solely on Saturday's game."

While Hartley is free to face Wasps on Saturday for Northampton, his England front-row colleague Marler was handed a three-week suspension after being cited for striking Wasps' Will Rowlands while on Harlequins duty in Sunday's Champions Cup match.

Marler pleaded guilty to the offence and while the panel said it warranted a red card, they said he struck the player with his arm, rather than elbow for which he was cited.

Despite that change, the panel hit Marler with a four-week suspension, but reduced this by a week due to the prop's remorse and guilty plea.

But that three-week suspension means Marler will sit out England's first two autumn international Tests against Argentina and Australia with the ban finishing on Nov. 19. He will be available for the match against Samoa on Nov. 25.

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Hartley citing dismissed but Marler suspended