Winger Mark Cueto will still be available for England's Rugby World Cup squad after receiving a nine-week ban for eye-gouging.

Cueto pleaded guilty to making contact with the eye or eye area of Northampton lock Christian Day while playing for Sale in an English Premiership game on April 2.

An English Rugby Football Union judiciary decided Cueto deserved a penalty of 18 weeks, but halved the sanction for what it called Cueto's "compelling mitigation".

The RFU also set the ban to start from April 4, when Cueto began a six-week suspension issued by Sale. That ban already cost him the rest of the Premiership season.

Sale was 10th in the 12-team standings and long out of contention for the semi-finals.

With his RFU ban ending in mid-June, Cueto will be available for England's World Cup warm-up games in August against Wales and Ireland.

He played in all nine of England's Tests this season, giving him 51 caps in all.

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