George Kruis, arguably the outstanding player of the Six Nations Championship, could miss the rest of the season after being charged with biting a fellow England international forward.
Kruis and Bath's David Wilson have been cited following Saracens's acrimonious victory at the Recreation Ground on Friday.
Kruis, a hugely influential figure in England's Grand Slam, is accused of biting Wilson in the same second-half incident that has led to Wilson being charged with making contact with the eye area of the Saracens forward. The case will be heard by a three-man Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel chaired by Christopher Quinlan QC in Bristol on Tuesday evening.
If found guilty, both players will be looking at lengthy suspensions under the rule that relates to acts contrary to good sportsmanship. The recommended minimum entry point for a biting suspension is 12 weeks, rising to 18 weeks for a mid-level offence and a maximum of four years for the worst offences.
Even a relatively modest ban would rule the 26-year-old Kruis out of the rest of the domestic season and threaten his participation in England’s three-Test tour of Australia in June. Wilson’s outside chances of summer tour selection will also be threatened if he is found guilty.
Already this year the Saracens winger Chris Ashton and Exeter's Welsh international prop Tomas Francis have been banned for 10 and eight weeks respectively for making contact with the eye area.
Another England forward, Joe Marler, also faces a misconduct hearing on Tuesday following World Rugby's decision to intervene in the "Gypsy boy" row involving the Welsh prop Samson Lee. Marler went unpunished by Six Nations officials following the incident during England's victory at Twickenham and apologised to Lee at half-time but World Rugby ruled the player's remark breached their code of conduct. The three-man hearing committee will be chaired by the experienced Terry Willis of Australia and also feature France's Jean-Noel Couraud and Canada's Alan Hudson.
The chairman of World Rugby, Bernard Lapasset, has called for the Six Nations to introduce a system of promotion and relegation to promote the growth of the game in Europe. Lapasset, who will be succeeded by England's Bill Beaumont when he leaves his post next month, feels Georgia and Romania should be given an opportunity to play more regularly with the established nations. "We need to change the format of the Six Nations Championship," Lapasset told Le Figaro. "If it wants to look to the future this competition should open up and embrace a promotion-relegation format. Either direct or via a play-off."
Lapasset also suggested the two things during his tenure of which he is most proud are the return of Sevens to the Olympic Games and the expansion into “new frontiers”, with Argentina now playing in the Rugby Championship and Japan achieving an historic win over South Africa at last year’s World Cup.
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