The man charged with leading England into this year's Rugby World Cup, Owen Farrell, could miss some of the most important matches of the tournament.
His participation hangs in the balance after he made an ugly tackle on Wales replacement flanker Taine Bashman in their latest Summer Nations Series contest.
The England skipper was dealt a yellow card, which was later upgraded to red, after his shoulder made contact with Bashman's head in the 63rd minute at Twickenham.
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Bashman went off after the incident and did not return for Wales in their 19-17 loss.
Farrell could cop a six-game ban, which would mean he misses the four group match games on top of the remaining two warm-up contests against Ireland and Fiji respectively.
Farrell will be defended by Richard Smith KC, a veteran of five Rugby World Cups as well as three British & Irish Lions tours, when he faces a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday.
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The barrister is one of the most highly rated in rugby and successfully reduced Farrell's last six-game ban to just four games for an illegal tackle he made playing for Saracens.
After pleading guilty and going to tackle school, that ban was dropped to three games.
Given the latest incident is the second serious offence this year for Farrell – and having already gone to tackle school this year – it's unlikely he'll be given the same reprieve.
A guilty plea would help Farrell's case to cut any sanction down by one game. Beyond that, there's little more he can do other than offer an apology.
The panel could conceivably go the other way, however, and give a greater sanction given it's the third incident in three years and has happened after attending tackle school.
England's first Rugby World Cup will see them take on Argentina before facing Japan, Chile, and Samoa.
"Let's wait and see what happens," said England coach Steven Borthwick of the potential sanction.
"We'll know about that in a few days, so we'll be able to talk about that after.
"I'm not going to comment until (Farrell has) got through his disciplinary… Once I have all the facts, I'll deal with the situation."
Should Farrell be banned, George Ford is expected to be England's first pick for the fly-half position.
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