Ulster loosehead prop Andy Warwick will go in front of an independent disciplinary committee after being cited for his tackle on Manu Tuilagi in Sunday’s Heineken Champions Cup defeat to Sale Sharks.
The Ulster forward made head-on-head contact with the English international centre in the 33rd minute of their European clash at the AJ Bell Stadium, which forced the Sharks man out of the game with an HIA.
At the time, French referee Mathieu Raynal determined that the tackle deserved no punishment, believing there were enough mitigating factors to prevent it even being a penalty, but citing commissioner Wejdane Limame believed otherwise.
Warwick will go up in front of a disciplinary panel consisting of Roger Morris (Wales), Frank Hadden (Scotland) and Leon Lloyd (England) on Thursday, who will determine if there is any retrospective discipline required.
If the prop was deemed to be guilty of a red card offence then he will more than likely be handed a ban as well, which would rule him out of Saturday’s second pool game against defending European champions La Rochelle at Ravenhill.
That would likely mean a start for Eric O’Sullivan, who came on from the bench against Sale, and a potential first European appearance for Callum Reid from the bench.
