Australia's Reece Hodge cited for dangerous play

Australia wing Reece Hodge has been cited for a dangerous play following their opening round of the World Cup clash against Fiji in Sapporo Dome.

The incident happened during the 25th minute of the game when Hodge prevented Peceli Yato from crossing over with an alleged no arms tackle which is a breach of Law 9.13.

Even though Fiji skipper Dominiko Waqaniburotu requested for a TMO, the referee deemed the tackle was legitimate.

The 25-year-old will now appear before a three-person disciplinary panel chaired by Nigel Hampton, QC (New Zealand), Frank Hadden (Scotland) and José Luis Rolandi (Argentina) in Tokyo.

Earlier, Fiji head coach John McKee played down the decision of referee O’Keeffe which could have resulted in a red card during the post-match conference.

“I haven’t seen footage of the incident yet, but maybe some people will look at it. We haven’t spoken to the TMO yet,” McKee said.

“The referee has a tough job out there. There’s a lot going on. We maybe didn’t get the rub of the green, but we have no complaints about the referee.

“We take a lot out of that game and we are still in this tournament. We will be watching how Wales and Australia go. We’re still in this tournament.”