The
independent judicial officer, Bruce Squire QC, halved Armitage's potential ban
after taking into account a number of mitigating factors.
Armitage
will be available to play in the semi-finals, should England beat
France in Auckland next Saturday.
England have
a ready-made replacement for Armitage in the form of Mark Cueto, who missed out
on facing Scotland despite scoring a quick-fire hat-trick against Romania.
Cueto had
played 29 consecutive games for England before a back injury ruled him out of
their World Cup victories over Argentina and Georgia.
The Sale
wing admitted he "spat the dummy" after England manager Martin
Johnson opted to start with Armitage on the left wing against Scotland.
Cueto felt
fully fit after his appearance against Romania – but the England coaching staff
disagreed.
"To
play the way I did and score the hat-trick, it was disappointing to find out I
wasn't playing last week," Cueto said today. "I was 100 per cent fit.
The coaches weren't convinced I was 100 per cent. They know me pretty well and
they thought I was just lacking a little edge in that game.
"They
thought I needed another week's training, get that under my belt and be OK. You
try and convince them to change their minds and whatever else but the decision
was made.
"It was
something I had to deal with. I spat my dummy out on the day I was told but it
is a squad effort. There are disappointments for everyone along the way and you
can't let that get in the way of what the team is trying to do."
Cueto went
through similar injury frustration in 2007 and ended up playing in the final
having missed the previous two matches with a hamstring injury.
"I
won't sit here and lie and say I wasn't disappointed (to miss out last week). I
was hugely disappointed. Experience is telling me it is a long
competition," said Cueto.
"Anything
can happen really. In 2007 I played in the pool stages and got a hamstring
injury against Tonga in the final game.
"I missed
the quarter against Australia and the semi against France. Josh (Lewsey) pulled
his hamstring in the semi and I got in for the final of the World Cup.
"It is
such a crazy competition. You can't compare it to anything else.
"One
minute you are at the bottom of the pile and suicidal, for what of a better
phrase, and the next minute you are playing in a World Cup final and top of the
pile."
Johnson
confirmed the versatile Matt Banahan is also an option to replace to Armitage,
although he may be required to cover the centres if Tindall fails to recover
from a dead leg.
England's
concerns over the fitness of Jonny Wilkinson continued for another day as they
wait to discover whether the arm injury he suffered against Scotland will rule
him out of the France game.
"It's a
shame to lose Delon as he has played well but these things happen and we have
some quality wings in Mark Cueto and Matt Banahan to chose from," Johnson
said.
"Both
(Tindall and Wilkinson) are responding to treatment so we will just have to see
where they are up to when we get back into weights and light training
tomorrow."
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