Gordon D’Arcy leads criticism of Dylan Hartley’s six week ban

What a happy coincidence for England.

Dylan Hartley has been banned for six weeks and that means that he'll be well rested, available and rearing to go for all of England's Six Nations campaign. The Northampton hooker has been handed a relatively lenient suspension for the blatant forearm smash he landed on Leinster flanker Sean O'Brien at the weekend. Referee Jerome Garces understandably dismissed Hartley immediately for the strike, the latest in a litany of indiscretions from the 30-year-old. The rugby community was united in condemnation for the act, with former Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll telling SportsJOE just how dangerous the "tackle" was. "There is a duty of care from the tackler coming in to effect a tackle," O'Driscoll said. "And that wasn't a tackle; there was not attempt to grab and it was incredibly loose and reckless... It is more of a red card every time I see it." The most recent punishment means that Hartley will have been under suspension for a total of 60 weeks due to seven separate decisions, for incidents such as eye-gouging, elbowing, head-butting and biting the finger of an opponent. And O'Driscoll's former centre partner Gordon D'Arcy has hit out since the revelation of Hartley's suspension, explaining how he was "amazed" at the incredibly convenient and lenient length of the ban. https://twitter.com/Gordonwdarcy/status/809096126242623489 https://twitter.com/lukefitz11/status/809148731970949120 https://twitter.com/Patrick5128/status/809098162812186625 https://twitter.com/GeoSheo/status/809097275951685632 https://twitter.com/McArdle_Owen/status/809096603512532992 https://twitter.com/Matty_Hendrick/status/809096601255944192 https://twitter.com/giveawayvimax/status/809096542628024321 https://twitter.com/Grazinator/status/809096076997300225 https://twitter.com/briainodeorain/status/809095585580064768 https://twitter.com/gareth_bell/status/809095021546840064 https://twitter.com/moragkatie/status/809091627876843520