• Player faces disciplinary hearing in Tokyo• Ban would jeopardise rest of his World Cup
The Australia wing Reece Hodge may miss the rest of the
World Cup after he was cited for his controversial tackle on Fiji’s Peceli Yato. He will face a disciplinary hearing in Tokyo this week and if found guilty he can expect a ban that would jeopardise the rest of his tournament.
Hodge went unpunished after the incident in the 25th minute but Yato, who had made a superb start to the match, was replaced after failing a head injury assessment. Fiji were privately furious that the referee Ben O’Keeffe did not take further action or consider awarding a penalty and asked for the incident to be reviewed by the citing commissioner. To compound matters for Fiji, who were leading 11-8 at the time of the incident. Hodge proceeded to score Australia’s next try.