The 31-year-old Sharks man pleaded guilty to ‘making contact with the eye or eye area’ of Northampton’s Christian Day during their 53-24 Premiership defeat on 2 April.

The RFU judged the incident to be a mid-range offence and the normal ban of 18 weeks was halved because of ‘compelling migration’ shown by Cueto.

The gouging incident took place as the former Sale team-mates scrapped off the ball in the build-up to Wame Lewaravu’s try.

Cueto’s suspension has been back-dated to 4 April, when he was given a six-week ban by Sale, meaning he will be free to play from 7 June but will miss the rest of the club’s league campaign.

The World Cup in New Zealand kicks-off on 9 September and England have warm-up games against Wales and Ireland in August.

Cueto was a key part of England’s successful 2011 Six Nations campaign and has scored 14 times in 50 appearances for his country since debuting in 2004.

In 2007 Cueto’s England team-mate Dylan Hartley was forced to miss the World Cup after being banned for six months following a similar offence.