Ellis Genge cited for dangerous tackle ahead of fight with Tom Curry

Ellis Genge received a yellow card for a high tackle against Tom Curry. Credit: Getty Images/Dan Mullan

Ellis Genge has been cited for a dangerous tackle by Tom Curry and faces a suspension that could affect England's World Cup preparations.

Referee Luke Pierce gave Genge a yellow card for the challenge , which occurred in the second half of the Bristol Bears loss. at Shark Sale on Friday night.

Guinge's left shoulder seemed to touch Curry's head, foreshadowing a fight between England teammates. After watching a few replays, Pearce said «I don't think it's very dangerous» before choosing a yellow card over a red one.

Now that their playoff hopes have faded, Bristol have only two Premier League matches. They are due to travel to the Exeter Chiefs before taking on Gloucester on May 6, the last day of the regular season.

If found guilty at Tuesday's hearing, Guinga is likely to face a three-match ban, ending his domestic campaign and jeopardizing his participation in England's first World Cup warm-up match. Steve Borthwick's side are due to travel to Cardiff to face Wales on 5 August.

Genge's relatively clean disciplinary record, however, means he is eligible for World Rugby's coaching intervention program, commonly known as the 'takeover'. school'. So this will cut any sanctions for a week, leaving a dissolute defensive midfielder free to fight Wales if Borthwick decides to field him.

Owen Farrell took advantage of the same protocol at the start of this year's Six Nations by launching a coaching intervention program to cut his suspension from four matches to three. This made him available to qualify for the match against Scotland.

England host Wales in a second warm-up Test on 12 August before traveling to Ireland and then host Fiji at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. Their World Cup campaign will start on September 9 against Argentina in Marseille.

Meanwhile, as Telegraph Sport reported last month, World Rugby confirmed they would consider an official televised match bunker for this year's World Cup, giving the officials team the option to replace yellow cards with red ones. The system, a version of which is currently being tested in Super Rugby Pacific, will be implemented at the Under-20 World Championship.

«Clear and obvious red cards for foul play involving head contact, get a red card, as a result of which the player is permanently removed from the game and cannot be replaced,” the global governing body said in a statement.

“In the event of any incident where the red card is not obvious, a yellow card will be issued, and special foul watchers in the central bunker will review the incident using all available technology and video footage.

“After 10 minutes, the yellow card either remains in effect and the player returns to action or it improves and the player leaves for good field and cannot be replaced.»