Wasps flanker James Haskell feared for his sight after being eye-gouged by Northampton's Neil Best.

Best was suspended for 18 weeks by the Rugby Football Union after pleading guilty to making contact with Haskell's "eye or eye area" in Northampton's 24-20 victory over Wasps on September 20.

The disciplinary panel accepted the offence was not pre-meditated but concluded Best had "effectively pulled Haskell's head upwards by the eye socket" once contact had been made.

Haskell suffered a corneal abrasion and told the hearing the acute pain had caused him to feel physically sick.

Nearly three weeks on and Haskell's sight is still not 100 per cent perfect.

But he just wants to put the incident behind him and help Wasps kick-start their season with victory against Castres at Adams Park on Sunday.

"I was quite concerned. When an eye specialist tells you it might be permanent, and for two days you are effectively completely blind because you can't open one eye when the other one is so sore, it was worrying, " said Haskell.

"I can read the bottom line of the eye test machine although it is not perfect yet. If I had lost my sight it would have been a different issue — but once the panel had handed out the punishment, as far as I was concerned that was it.

"You get caught, you get punished and it is the end of the story. Life is too short to worry about these things and hold a grudge. I am a pretty positive person."