England prop Kyle Sinckler could miss the start of the Six Nations after being cited for allegedly swearing at a referee.
The Bristol Bears forward was heard using foul language towards Karl Dickson in Saturday's Premiership win at Exeter.
After Sinckler was tackled by Exeter hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie in what appeared to be a low no-arms tackle. Referee Dickson however deemed it legal, leading to Sinckler to shout "Are you f****** serious?”
The 27-year-old was spoken to by Dickson on the pitch and will appear before a disciplinary panel on Tuesday.
If found guilty of "failing to respect the authority of the match official", he faces a minimum ban of two weeks - with the starting point for the ban being six weeks.
And that could see him miss the start of England's Six Nations defence - with bans only served when meaningful matches are played.
With European action for the next two weeks likely to be postponed, any ban Sinckler serves could start in January - with England's Six Nations campaign starting on February 6.
Sinckler issued an immediate apology on social media after Saturday’s game, tweeting: “Want to apologise for my reaction today.
"Not the example I want to be setting. Heat of the moment stuff. Will make a conscious effort to improve. My bad.”
