Paul O'Connell arrives for his hearing on Thursday morning

Paul O'Connell has been banned for four weeks for striking opponent Jonathan Thomas with a swinging arm during Munster's win over the Ospreys.

The 2009 Lions captain, who committed the offence in Sunday's Heineken Cup match at Thomond Park, appeared at a disciplinary panel on Thursday.

O'Connell will miss Saturday's return game against the Ospreys and three Magners League matches.

The second row will be available for the Heineken Cup game away to Toulon.

That fixture is scheduled to be played in mid-January.

O'Connell will be absent for the Magners League games against Irish provincial rivals Connacht on Boxing Day and Ulster on New Year's Day, and also the fixture against Glasgow on 8 January.

He committed the offence in the 69th minute of Sunday's Pool Three game soon after coming on as a replacement.

There had been fears that O'Connell could have missed the start of the Six Nations but he will now be available for Ireland's opening game against Italy in Rome on 5 February.

His ban was initially set at five weeks but was reduced by one week on account of O'Connell's good disciplinary record.

Munster team manager Shaun Payne expressed disappointment with the outcome but said Munster would wait to receive the written judgement before deciding whether to appeal.

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