Prop Chris King will miss the Highlanders' Super Rugby match against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday after being suspended for a week for foul play.
He copped the ban after pleading guilty to striking Lions skipper Warren Whitely during the Highlanders' 23-22 win in Dunedin on Saturday night.
King received a yellow card for the incident in the 54th minute, when his raised arm hit No.8 Whitely in the face.
Whitely wasn't injured and played on, and King was cited after the match.
During a judicial hearing by teleconference, King said he didn't intend to strike Whitely, but was trying to block him.
SANZAR duty judicial officer Peter Ingwersen said the offence was in the low range and had a starting point of a two-week suspension.
He said there were no aggravating circumstances and he took into account King's clean record and his guilty plea in reducing the ban to one week.
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