Players' union chief Damian Hopley has called for a fully integrated disciplinary system to ensure his members' interests are taken into account at future hearings.

Martin Johnson's fate was decided by a leading member of the legal profession at Twickenham, just as a lawyer acting on behalf of the Rugby Football Union handed him the original 21-day ban for his punch on Saracens hooker Robbie Russell.

Such has been the confusion over the right of the RFU to further punish Johnson - above the yellow card he received during the game - for the incident, that an overhaul of their disciplinary structures is almost inevitable.

Both football and rugby league use former players in deciding whether current stars should face sanctions over incidents unseen by referees during games, and Hopley feels there should now be more input in union as well.

"The verdict clearly indicated that there is an urgent need for a complete overhaul of the disciplinary rules and procedures," said Hopley, chief executive of the Professional Players' Association, itself part of the Professional Rugby Partnership, an umbrella body which looks after the interests of leading clubs and their players.

"It is crucial that from now on all parties accept that PRP has a valid role in the redrafting of those rules and procedures.

"The interests and needs of the professional game are fundamentally different from those of the rest of the game.

"It is imperative that we do not have a disciplinary procedure imposed on the elite game without any consultation from the participants."

The decision by Michael Pannick QC to uphold the three-week ban rules Johnson out of England's next Lloyds TSB Six Nations game with Wales at Twickenham on March 23, plus Leicester's next two league encounters with Bath and Gloucester.

It was a vindication of RFU disciplinary officer Robert Horner's decision to take the matter further, but has left Leicester chief executive Peter Wheeler feeling somewhat aggrieved.

"The outcome has turned on its head what all of us in professional rugby believed the situation to be," said the former England hooker.

"We felt it was important that we tested the situation and that is why we appealed.

"Martin Johnson has always been a high-profile player. The disciplinary committee said the case wasn't brought because it was Martin Johnson but it is probably difficult to believe that.

"We always accepted the three-week ban, but Martin Johnson is not a dirty player. He is a hard player who is respected by most people within the game and this was a regrettable incident.

"But the important thing was whether the RFU disciplinary officer can overrule a referee - it is a landmark judgement."

Coach Dean Richards must now plan the latest stage on the Tigers assault on a fourth successive league title without his inspirational captain, although one member of his squad - back-row Neil Back - will again take over the England captain's role against Wales.

Johnson, however, is likely to take a short break before returning to face Wasps at Loftus Road on Easter Sunday.

England coach Clive Woodward has such faith in the 30-year-old that Johnson is already an almost certain starter against Italy in Rome next month, but he will also no doubt point out Pannick's damning verdict on the incident and will want to ensure there is no repeat.

"This was a very serious offence," said Pannick in his 19-page summing up of a case which lasted six hours.

"It was a violent punch, causing injury which needed six stitches. The ball was not in play.

"Mr Johnson was not responding to any act of provocation. Mr Johnson held on to Mr Russell's collar to enable him to inflict the blow to greater effect.

"It is important to eradicate violent play to protect the image of the game and to encourage young people to participate."