England lock Kruis in danger of missing tour of Australia after biting charge
Second row George Kruis could miss England’s tour of Australia in June after being cited for an alleged bite during Saracens’ Premiership victory at Bath on Friday evening.
Kruis stands accused of biting Bath’s David Wilson in a second-half incident which has also seen the 30-year-old prop charged with making contact with the eye area of the Saracens forward.
The duo’s case will be heard by a three-man Rugby Football Union (RFU) disciplinary panel on Tuesday evening.
The recommended minimum ban for a biting offence, if proven, is 12 weeks. Such a sanction would rule Kruis, who was hugely influential during England’s Grand Slam success last month, out of this summer’s three-Test showdown against World Cup finalists the Wallabies.
Kruis is also in danger of missing the remainder of Saracens’ campaign, which continues on Saturday with a European Champions Cup quarter-final against Northampton.
If found guilty of gouging, former England tighthead Wilson also faces a 12-week suspension, which would end his domestic season and extinguish any hope of an international recall this summer.
Fellow prop Joe Marler, meanwhile, faces his World Rugby disciplinary hearing today after the global governing body intervened in the “gypsy boy” spat with Samson Lee which overshadowed England’s Six Nations victory against Wales.
Tournament organisers opted against punishing Marler, although World Rugby decided the incident was a breach of their code of conduct.