USA centre Alev Kelter has been handed a three-match ban for her stomp on Georgina Friedrichs during the Wallaroos' win last week in Canberra.
Kelter was sent off late in the eight-point victory after striking Friedrichs multiple times with her boot.
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"This is thuggery...Twelve blue is going to get a permanent red card," referee Aimee Barrett-Theron said.
"She's clearly stamped on the head of the Australian player."
It'll mean the only international the midfielder will miss is this week's clash with New Zealand, serving the rest of the suspension for club side Bay Breakers.
World Rugby's independent Disciplinary Committee found that she was not deliberately targeting the head and that the contact was grazing rather than direct.
"The Committee found that there was foul play and that it met the red card threshold consistent with the referee’s decision. There was contact with the head by the player’s boot. The player repeatedly stamped her foot and deliberately so, but the Committee accepted the player’s evidence that she did not intend to contact the head," the statement from World Rugby reads.
"On careful review of the footage, and considering the player’s evidence and submission, the Committee found that the player was not deliberately targeting the head of the Australian player, but rather was reckless in her actions (as she accepted).
"The contact to the head was glancing or grazing rather than direct and targeted. The Committee was not satisfied that the player looked down and was aware she was contacting the head of the Australian player.
"On that basis therefore and in considering sanction, the Committee applied World Rugby’s mandatory minimum mid-range entry point for foul play resulting in head contact (six matches).
"Taking all considerations into account, including the player’s disciplinary record, early acknowledgment of foul play and her clear remorse, the Disciplinary Committee determined that full mitigation was appropriate, resulting in a final sanction of three matches."
Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp was disappointed about the incident post-match, accepting the apology of the American side.
"It's not nice for the game," Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp said in Canberra.
"I've already had the USA apologise and check on G Fred (Friedrichs)."
It adds further spice to September's World Cup match in York, with the two teams likely battling for a quarter-final spot.
