Hurricanes' captain Ardie Savea faces the prospect of a ban after being cited for his throat-slitting gesture to Melbourne Rebels halfback Ryan Louwrens during the Super Rugby Pacific clash.
The All Blacks star will have to face a SANZAAR hearing on Monday after the citation for allegedly contravening the law concerning "the spirit of good sportsmanship".
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Savea made the gesture in Friday's match, appearing to threaten Louwrens after being shown a yellow card near the end of the first half during the Hurricanes' win.
"Savea is alleged to have contravened Law 9.27: A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship, during the match between the Rebels and Hurricanes at AAMI Park in Melbourne on 3 March 2023," a SANZAAR statement read.
"Upon further review of the match footage, the Citing Commissioner deemed in his opinion the incident had met the Red Card threshold for foul play. "The Case is to be considered in the first instance by the SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee which will take place on Monday 6 March 2023, 6pm(AEDT), 8pm(NZDT) via video-conference.
"All SANZAAR disciplinary matters are in the first instance referred to the Foul Play Review Committee to provide the option of expediting the judicial process.
"For a matter to be dispensed with at this hearing, the person appearing must plead guilty and accept the penalty offered by the Foul Play Review Committee."
Savea could face a ban from two weeks upwards, though he did make a public apology in a post-match TV interview, saying what he'd done had been out of character.
"I can understand the fans are furious around the gesture that I made," he told Sky Sport.
"It's just a heat of the moment. It's footy. Kids are watching us; we're in the heat of the moment. Usually, that's out of character for me, so I put my hand up first, and I apologise for that."
Savea's fellow Hurricane Tevita Mafileo will also face a hearing after being sent off.
Mafileo was originally shown a yellow card but became the competition's first player to have that sanction later upgraded to red by the television match official - a power introduced by the tournament organisers SANZAAR to speed up play.
