Wales lock banned for tackle

Dublin - Wales lock Bradley Davies will miss the rest of the Six Nations championship after he was suspended for seven weeks on Wednesday for his spear tackle on Ireland's Donnacha Ryan in Sunday's clash in Dublin.

Davies was sin-binned after the incident and Wales coach Warren Gatland acknowledged that he should have earned a red card.

He was cited for foul play and an independent Six Nations discpinary committee concluded "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 particular emphasis on this aspect of the game, merited a top end entry to the IRB's table of sanctions."

The Committee said it had added two weeks on to the entry point ban of 10 weeks to "reflect the need for a deterrent for this type of foul play", but had then applied the maximum possible reduction of five weeks because of Davies's "admission of guilt, his previous good disciplinary record and his conduct at the hearing".

Davies, who has the right to appeal, can resume playing on March 26.

Wales, who beat Ireland 23-21 in their tournament opener, face Scotland in Cardiff on Sunday.