So, it's eight weeks for gouging and 52 weeks for winking. Not for the first time in recent weeks, the eye is at the centre of a storm in rugby.

While Schalk Burger, of South Africa, and Sergio Parisse, of Italy, are serving two-month bans for getting within inches of poking an opponent's eye out, Tom Williams of Harlequins is banned for six times as long for shutting and opening his own eye quite voluntarily and quite out of reach of any opponent.

Whatever the extenuating circumstances, both punishments are bizarre. No other sport but rugby union could get it so wrong at both ends of the scale – the one is as lenient as the other is excessive.

Apart from an extraordinary outburst – most of it since retracted – from Springboks coach Pieter de Villiers, no thinking person has sought to defend or make excuses for Burger and Parisse.

The pair will quietly serve their time, secretly count their lucky stars, and resume their stellar careers as soon as possible.

Williams, a journeyman by comparison, will almost certainly make a fuss – and rightly so.

He, you remember, was suspected of faking a blood injury in a Heineken Cup semi-final against Leinster in order to facilitate a return to the pitch for drop-goal expert Nick Evans.

A wink towards the replacements' bench – caught on camera by the ubiquitous Sky TV cameras – triggered the disciplinary hearing which, after a whole host of delays, found against both the player and his club – Harlequins being fined 250,000 euros for their part in the affair. While the fine is a clear indication that the tribunal believed the club to be complicit in the attempt to cheat the referee – it was alleged that Williams carried a capsule of fake blood on to the pitch – their decision to exonerate any other individual in the Harlequins set-up – manager Dean Richards was one of three club officials named by ERC – is not.

The player – without a doubt acting under orders – has been made to carry the can in its entirety and has lost a year of his career as a result.

His actions were contrary to the sprit and the ethics of the game, but then so were the orders that led him to cheat.

While the players have been given the clearest of messages by the ERC, those who gave the orders have been left to carry on – almost regardless. That cannot be right. In the professional era, the line between collective and individual responsibility is becoming increasingly blurred.

It is just as inconceivable that Williams was acting entirely on his own as it is that another player in the dock, former Bath lock Justin Harrison, was acting under orders from the club when he was found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute after taking cocaine.

His punishment – an eight-month suspension from the game – sends the clearest of messages to former colleagues Michael Lipman, Alex Crockett and Andy Higgins, who are also due to answer to the RFU.

So does the reminder that if he hadn't pleaded guilty he would have faced a ban of at least 18 months. They will know their fate next week. As will England. The game's governing body, the IRB, is next Wednesday set to announce the host nations for the Rugby World Cups of 2015 and 2019, with England strong favourites for the former.

On their side, the RFU have not only an unofficial recommendation from within the IRB, but also some compelling figures.

An English World Cup in 2015 is expected to generate at least £300 million for the IRB. On top of the £80 million tournament fee, the "mature" UK market would attract a further £220 million in commercial returns from broadcasting, sponsorship and merchandising – which is understood to be around 20 per cent more than the RFU's nearest rival and 50 per cent greater than France 2007.

After humiliation in the run-up to that tournament in 2007 – England made a similarly compelling financial case but gained barely a vote when the decision was taken – and mindful of strong competition from South Africa and Italy – both with allegedly stronger government guarantees – England are taking nothing for granted.

Nevertheless, this time next week, there should be good news….