ROSS Moriarty will miss the Dragons’ first game of the Guinness PRO14 after being given a four-week ban for his red card in Wales’ win against Argentina.

The back row forward was dismissed in the closing stages of the win against the Pumas in Santa Fe after a choke hold on fly-half Nicolas Sanchez.

The 24-year-old will now sit out the Rodney Parade region’s opener as well as their pre-season friendlies against Northampton, Ealing and his former club Gloucester.

“Moriarty admitted the act of foul play, accepted the red card and apologised for his actions,” read a World Rugby statement.

“Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence, the independent judicial committee deemed the offence to be at the mid-range scale of seriousness, which has an entry point of six weeks.

“However, taking into account the aggravating factor that the player did not desist from his actions on the direction of the assistant referee (which resulted in an addition of an extra week) and mitigating factors including the player’s immediate apology and disciplinary record (which resulted in a deduction of three weeks), the player was suspended for a period of four weeks.”

The loss of Moriarty is a blow but the Dragons will be relieved that the sanction was not more severe.