Wasps prop Vickery was cited for kicking USA centre Paul Emerick during last Saturdays Pool A game in Lens.

Vickery was summoned to appear before World Cup judicial officer Professor Lorne Crerar in Paris on Tuesday and, after a three-hour hearing, the suspension was imposed.

It means Vickery will miss Englands crunch clash with South Africa at the Stade de France on Friday night plus the appointment with Samoa in Nantes on Saturday week.

The England camp have 48 hours to decide on a possible appeal, but at this stage it looks as though Vickery will be replaced in the starting line-up by Baths Matt Stevens.

England will consider an appeal against Vickery's sentence, but it is another huge blow during a troubled start to their World Cup defence.

Defeat against South Africa would realistically mean England would need to beat Samoa to avoid the humiliating prospect of a pool stage exit.

In the immediate aftermath of Saturday's game, Vickery insisted there was no malice intended in the challenge on Emerick, which went unnoticed and unpunished by match referee Jonathan Kaplan.

However, Professor Crerar decided it was a deliberate act that was delivered with some force.

Vickery was accompanied at the hearing in central Paris by England's legal representative, Richard Smith QC.

England head coach Brian Ashton has already named his side for Friday's clash, with the probable promotions of Stevens sending him into battle against the country of his birth.