Irish and Australian fears that Trevor Brennan and Toutai Kefu would be cited for foul play after their dust-up on Saturday were duly realised yesterday when the two players were summoned to a RWC disciplinary hearing in Twickenham today.
To compound Australian anxiety, their centre Daniel Herbert has also been cited for his high tackle on Kevin Maggs which put the Irish centre out of the game.
Brennan will be accompanied to Twickenham by team manager Donal Lenihan and after reviewing the incident on video the Irish management are optimistic that the flanker will not be as heavily punished as Kefu, on the basis that the Australian number eight threw considerably more punches.
After landing one or two blows of his own Brennan, by comparison, had each arm pinned down by David Wilson and Jeremy Paul.
Kefu and Herbert will be accompanied by Australian team manager John McKay. The Australian management, for their part, continue to cling to the match officials' decision to award a penalty to the Wallabies following the incident as some form of proof that their man was the more innocent party.
"I was somewhat surprised that they were cited," said Australian coach Rod Macqueen yesterday, admitting that he'd be "concerned if something is going to come from it. It would be a major blow. We already have a couple of injuries and that (any possible suspension) would be a further blow."
However, that decision, along with the report of referee Clayton Thomas, is unlikely to have any great bearing on the results of the three-man disciplinary hearing given neither he nor touch-judge Brian Campsall were able to identify the prime protagonists.
Quite why the penalty was given to Australia remains something of a mystery.
Additionally, on the basis of the example the RWC has set with the Colin Charvis affair, things don't look good for Kefu particularly. Furthermore Charvis, along with Tongan full back Siua Taumalolo, lost their appeals against two-week and three-week suspensions last night; the former for punching and the latter for high tackling.
The number of players cited for foul play has now soared to nine.
Canadian flanker John Hutchinson will also be appearing in Twickenham today to face an accusation that he punched a Fijian player during Saturday's Pool C match.
Fiji's Marika Vunibaka - sent off by Ed Morrison for head-butting an opponent in the same bruising Bordeaux battle - is also in the dock.
Two other players - Samoan prop Brendan Reidy and Spanish lock Jose Miguel Villau - were last week cleared of punching offences, which may give Brennan some hope that he will either escape punishment or receive a lighter sentence.
Australian woes have been heightened by the news that the result of Phil Kearns's X-ray has brought his World Cup to a premature end, and at 32, may also have ended his distinguished career. The Wallaby hooker has a tendon problem in his right ankle which will require an operation.
A member of Australia's 1991 World Cup-winning team, Kearns has played 67 Tests - a record for an Australian hooker - since making his debut against New Zealand in 1989. He has captained the Wallabies 10 times. "It's not the way I wanted to end my World Cup campaign," said Kearns.
The groin strain John Eales picked up on Sunday will also sideline him for the Wallabies' final pool game against the US this Thursday.
As for Ireland's casualties from Sunday's encounter, independent medical advice has confirmed that Kevin Maggs did not receive concussion arising from Herbert's tackle.
He may well be rested anyway for Friday's final Pool E game against Romania at Lansdowne Road, as might David Humphreys, who suffered a dead leg.
