The Rugby Football Union have launched a crack down on violence on the field of play, insisting they will introduce a "zero tolerance" policy.

Martin Johnson's recent battle to overturn a three-week ban for punching highlighted inadequacies in the RFU's disciplinary procedures.

Chief executive Francis Baron is determined to ensure there is no repeat of the Johnson farce, which dragged on for two months from the original incident and allowed the Leicester lock to captain England against France in Paris after launching a controversial appeal.

"There will be zero tolerance towards violent foul play," said Baron.

"The decision was taken in early January, but because of a number of disciplinary issues which arose at that time we weren't able to say anything about it.

"Certain actions should be automatically punishable. We want to set standards people will look up to, not be a bad example.

"We didn't want to carry on the road we appeared to be going; that type of behaviour has no part in the professional game."

Baron has left the matter in the hands of RFU performance director Chris Spice.

The Australian indicated he is likely to follow the rugby league method of having an independent citing commissioner at every game, who would be responsible for bringing a disciplinary case against any player in the match - whether they have already been dealt with by the referee or not.

He also envisages the introduction of a system which deals with each case within days, rather than the three weeks it took for the first Johnson hearing to take place.

"We already have a disciplinary review in place and want the code of conduct to dovetail with it at the start of next season," he said.

"We want the directors of rugby to be able to talk to the citing commissioner at the game. He can then speak with the referee and opposition, have a look at the video and decide whether to call a hearing or not."

Meanwhile, Baron is also hoping to tie up a two-Test England tour to Argentina this summer after finally abandoning the proposed trip to the Pacific Islands.

The RFU were forced to call time on the trip to Samoa, Tonga and Fiji because the Islanders are committed to World Cup qualifiers in early June - followed by controversial matches against New Zealand and South Africa.

The International Rugby Board have refused to sanction those games. But Baron has confirmed the Islanders are unwilling to scrap them, leaving England in limbo.

He admitted on Tuesday that the odds on organising the trip to South America are "no more than 50-50" because of the Pumas' prior arrangements and a schedule which means all matches have to be completed by July 6.

Baron is hoping to persuade Argentina to switch the dates of their matches with the French Barbarians and South Africa on June 15 and 22 respectively, which would allow Clive Woodward's side some meaningful summer action barely 15 months before the World Cup.

Woodward sees this summer as a vital part of his World Cup build-up, but Baron admits he is facing a race against time to try and please the England boss.

"It is clearly a monumental mess," admitted Baron.

"It is a very frustrating situation for us to be in because we were committed to the Pacific Islands tour.

"This is a situation we have been worrying about. We set two deadlines for this to be sorted out and we waived both of them.

"The longer we have left it the more difficult it becomes to find an alternative."