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- Argentina fullback Juan Cruz Mallia could be in hot water after colliding with Bok scrumhalf Grant Williams in Saturday's Test at Ellis Park.
- Williams was knocked out cold but Irish referee Andrew Brace felt there was no foul play.
- Sanzaar, however, has now cited the Los Pumas fullback and he could miss this weekend's return match in Buenos Aires.
Argentina fullback Juan Cruz Mallia has been cited for his aerial challenge on Springbok scrumhalf Grant Williams in Saturday's Rugby Championship encounter in Johannesburg.
Arguably the biggest talking point of the Test happened as early as 10 seconds when Williams was knocked out cold when colliding with the Pumas No 15.
5 talking points | Springboks v Argentina: Did Pumas fullback deserve red for Williams collision?
Williams had fielded the kick-off before his clearing kick was charged down by Cruz Mallia, who in the process collided with the Bok No 9.
Williams was stretchered off and it caused a long delay before the match restarted.
Despite complaints by the Boks, Irish referee Andrew Brace said it was a legitimate charge down and just an unfortunate rugby incident.
However, southern hemisphere governing body Sanzaar confirmed on Monday that the citing commissioner deemed in his opinion the incident had met the red card threshold for foul play.
Cruz Mallia is alleged to have contravened Law 9.11: Players must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others including leading with the elbow or forearm, or jumping into, or over, a tackler.
Por esta jugada ante a Grant Williams, Juan Cruz Mallía fue citado a declarar por el Comité de Revisión de Infracciones de SANZAAR.#PUMASxESPN pic.twitter.com/hrzcS9UNSe
— ScrumRugby (@ScrumESPN) July 31, 2023
The case is to be considered in the first instance by the Sanzaar foul play review committee which will take place via video-conference at 10:00 (SA time) on Tuesday.
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.
A sanction could see Cruz Mallia miss Saturday's World Cup warm-up match between Argentina and South Africa in Buenos Aires.
The Boks won the Test at Ellis Park 22-21.
