Springbok centre Andre Esterhuizen is in hot water after receiving a red card playing for his English club Harlequins at the weekend.
The incident occurred in Harlequins' away Premiership match against Gloucester at Kingsholm.
Esterhuizen, who boasts eight Test caps, received his marching order in the 45th minute of the contest after a television match official (TMO) review showed that he had thrown an elbow into the face of an opposition player.
Andre Esterhuizen was shown a straight red card for an elbow to the face of Lloyd Evans, 45 minutes into Harlequins' game with Gloucester #SaffasAbroad pic.twitter.com/Ou9hMmXvXd
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) December 7, 2020
The 26-year-old will be cited under Law 9.12: "A player must not physically or verbally abuse anyone. Physical abuse includes, but is not limited to, biting, punching, contact with the eye or eye area, striking with any part of the arm (including stiff-arm tackles), shoulder, head or knee(s), stamping, trampling, tripping or kicking."
Esterhuizen will appear before a disciplinary committee on Thursday.
According to the English RFU's regulations, if found guilty, he could be banned for a minimum of two weeks, which would rule him out of Harlequins' European Champions Cup opener against Munster as well as their Premiership clash with the Bristol Bears.
However, there is a possibility that Esterhuizen could be banned for longer as he was previously suspended for six weeks in 2017 for a spear tackle while playing for the Sharks in a Super Rugby match against the Melbourne Rebels.
Harlequins won Sunday's game 34-24.
- Compiled by Sport24 staff