Australia's women's rugby captain is facing the possibility of a long stint on the sidelines after allegedly biting the arm of one of her national teammates during a Super W match on Sunday.
Wallaroos captain Liz Patu was playing for Queensland against Western Australia in the women's XVs tournament when she was brought down near the try line late in the game.
Fellow Wallaroo Rebecca Clough leant over her in the ruck and came up shouting and pointing at Patu.
Clough eventually went to referee Lara West pointing at her arm and saying "I've been bitten", before pointing at Patu and calling out her jersey number: "Three".
"She showed me her arm with bite marks," West told Queensland skipper Kiri Lingman.
"I didn't see it so I can't call it, but if I do see it, that person is gone."
The big-screen replay played the footage that showed Patu grabbing Clough's wrist before appearing to bite her.
The crowd and players reacted, but West was hamstrung for on-field actions because she could not use the replay as the basis for any decisions around cards.
Former Wallaby Drew Mitchell was in commentary at the time and was shocked.
"That is disgusting and it's not a part of our game, especially from an Australian representative and a captain at that," he said.
New Zealand-born Patu, who took over the captaincy of the national team last year, will face a hearing on Monday night in Brisbane.
