RUGBY: England yesterday cited the New Zealand Barbarians' second-row Troy Flavell for an alleged forearm smash on the face of Richard Hill at Twickenham on Saturday.

The incident left the England captain with a broken nose to go with the 13 stitches under his eye from a first-half clash of heads.

Flavell, who failed to make New Zealand's World Cup squad after picking up a three-month ban in last year's Super 12 for stamping, seemed intent on literally knocking the World Cup winners off their pedestal.

He squared up to Hill in the opening minutes after the England flanker had taken exception to the way Flavell rucked Jason Robinson, and in the second half landed stiff arms on the faces of Hill and number eight Joe Worsley, and left centre Stuart Abbott with a cut on his nose after a high tackle. If the case goes against him he could miss the start of the Super 12 season.

England coach Clive Woodward called for the Hill incident to be reviewed and the judicial officer on Saturday, Jeff Blackett, has asked the New Zealand Rugby Union to "take the appropriate action" against Flavell.

"I have assessed that there is a prima-facie case of foul play (swinging right arm to the nose) by Troy Flavell on Richard Hill in the 60th minute," said Blackett.

Hill was late in joining the squad's lap of honour because he was being stitched up and looked as if he had just gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.

"I don't like looking like this, it scares my nieces," he said. "I do not know what happened when my nose was broken but it did not take away from the honour of leading my country. It was a hard game, a taste of what lies in store for us because everyone will want to beat the world champions."