France fly half Romain Ntamack will miss the Six Nations clash with England after his red card against Wales, but will be able to return ahead of a potential title decider with Ireland later in the tournament.

Ntamack was shown a red card after a high tackle on Ben Thomas late on in the opening night thrashing at the Stade de France, and has been handed a three-match ban, reduced from an entry point of six games due to the Frenchman’s admission of wrongdoing and exemplary disciplinary record.

That will be further reduced to two fixtures subject to the successful completion of World Rugby’s coaching intervention programme, known informally as tackle school.

While it rules him out of Saturday’s encounter with England at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, that may prove the only Six Nations fixture that Ntamack misses. The second game of his suspension is yet to be determined.

“Confirmation of the remaining match(es) to be missed will be confirmed by the Disciplinary Committee and communicated by Six Nations Rugby in due course,” a statement said.

Toulouse are due to take on Clermont Auvergne in the Top 14 next Sunday, a game in which Ntamack would almost certainly not have featured.

However, past precedent has shown that teams sometimes use club fixtures that international players otherwise would have missed as part of suspensions: Owen Farrell, for example, was able to begin the 2023 Six Nations with a Saracens match against Bristol in the Premiership a week before the tournament serving as the last of his ban.

It means that Ntamack could well be available for the round three trip to Italy on 23 February, and the crunch clash with Ireland on 8 March in Dublin.

In Ntamack’s absence, Matthieu Jalibert is in line to start at fly half as France look to continue their title charge against England at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.

Full-back Thomas Ramos was also an option for Fabien Galthie at the position but the head coach appears likely to bring in a new playmaker to ensure stability at 15.

Jalibert left the French squad during the autumn amid an apparent falling out with Galthie over his inclusion only as a non-playing reserve for the clash with the All Blacks.

Any issues appear to have been healed, though, with a fit-again Damian Penaud also set to return to the starting side on the wing.