Gloucester number eight James Forrester has been cleared of deliberately kneeing Sale fly-half David Blair.
Forrester appeared before a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel in London after being cited for the incident in Gloucester’s 20-19 defeat at Edgeley Park on January 6.
Blair was left with a double fracture of the transverse processes in his lower back and faces two months on the sidelines.
But, after an hour-long hearing, the case against Forrester was dismissed and he is free to play on.
The panel was chaired by the RFU’s disciplinary officer Judge Jeff Blackett.