Lawes leaves the disciplinary hearing having received a two-game suspension
England lock Courtney Lawes has been banned for two matches following his clash with Argentina's Mario Ledesma.
The 22-year-old will miss England's next two games, against Georgia on Sunday and Romania on 24 September.Lawes, who pleaded not guilty, will be available for England's final group game against Scotland on 1 October.
Judicial officer Terry Willis imposed less than the minimum penalty because of Lawes' disciplinary record and "remorse".
The offence carries a guideline suspension of between three and 12 matches in the World Cup, but Lawes' offence was deemed 'low end'.England and Lawes have 48 hours in which to appeal against the decision and have not yet revealed if they intend to do so.
Lawes was found guilty of striking Ledesma with his knee during the first half of England's gruelling 13-9 win against the Pumas on Saturday and was cited for an infringement of law 10.4 (a) "punching or striking (with the knee)."
Video footage showed Lawes colliding with Ledesma knee-first after the Argentina hooker had already been tackled to the ground.
"It is a fast-moving game and he dived to make what he thinks is a try-saving tackle. We thought any contact was incidental but they thought differently," said England manager Martin Johnson.
Northampton's Lawes, who has 11 international caps, was also involved in a collision with Gonzalo Tiesi, who was ruled out of the tournament with knee ligament damage.
A statement from Rugby World Cup Limited read: "Having conducted a detailed review of all the evidence available, including all broadcast angles and additional evidence from the player and submissions from his counsel, the judicial officer upheld the citing on the basis that the player had committed an act of foul play.
"However, taking into account mitigating factors being his excellent disciplinary record and remorse and the absence of aggravating factors, the player was suspended for two weeks."
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