Italy prop Marco Riccioni has been suspended for two weeks after being found guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct during his team's 57-10 Nations Championship defeat to Australia in Perth.
Riccioni was shown a red card in the 66th minute of last Saturday's match. He had already been replaced when he became involved in a wrestle between players that spilled from the field into the technical area, knocking some Italy support staff off their chairs.
The tournament's Foul Play Review committee announced the suspension on Wednesday, the third to involve Italy in two weeks. The committee said the offence could have merited a four-week ban, but the sanction was reduced to two weeks because of Riccioni's admission of guilt and his previous disciplinary record.
Riccioni will miss two matches in August for Perpignan in France's Top 14 league. He is the third member of Italy's Nations Championship campaign to be punished: head coach Gonzalo Quesada had his two-match suspension reduced to one last week after facing a misconduct hearing over his criticism of the refereeing following Italy's 47-17 loss to New Zealand on July 11, while lock Niccolo Cannone was banned for four weeks after being sent off for head-butting in that same defeat in Wellington.
Italy have lost their opening three matches of the Nations Championship, with the defeats in Australia and New Zealand following a 27-10 loss to Japan in Tokyo on July 4.
Riccioni's absence will be a further blow to Italy's pack, with the two-week ban ruling him out of Perpignan's early-season Top 14 fixtures before the international calendar resumes.
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