Let's fast forward to Saturday 26th October. 5 minutes in and Ben Westwood joins a tackle and gives Johnathan Thurston a right smack in the face and nobody sees it until the replay. Play carries on after a couple of minutes tending to Thurston's injury and no action is taken on the field against Westwood. Both sides are super fired up after this incident and the game develops into a classic international.

How would this thread look then?

People would still want him sent off.

The disclipinary system continues to be a joke.

Or scenario 2. Westwood gives Thurston a right smack. Ref spots it and red card for Westwood. Aussies run riot.

Westwood can rough the opposition up just fine without resorting to dirty tactics like he did in the final. Taking shortcuts rarely works.

Bulls**t. Even if there was no dirty tactics involved whatsoever, people on here would still be castigating him and calling for him to be banned for 149 matches.

I was a Wigan fan Saturday and he should have walked but I'm an England fan now and I'm quite prepared to forgive and forget! A token gesture of a one game ban will do just fine!!

It's incidents like these though that make me wonder why a ban should cover all competitions. He did it in club rugby so should be banned from club rugby not internationals.

You can't be a Wigan fan, surely?

It helps that I like Westwood tbh. He's a big, daft lump but comes across as a good bloke and things happen in games sometimes that people regret. I know he's come out and said he can't remember the incident but I'm sure he just wants to forget about it.

Now lets get him whacking some Aussies (in a fair and above board manner, of course).

Westwood gets a one match ban, will be unavailable for selection for the England v Italy friendly, but is free for selection for the World Cup.

Cue the Virtual Terrace meltdown.......

Good decision.Any ban should really only count in the club game IMO so just missing a warm up game does not affect the England team and rightly so.