The Northampton man became the first player to be cited at this World Cup after match disciplinary commissioner Murray Whyte decided the incident was worthy of investigation.

Lawes, who was making his World Cup debut, will now appear before a disciplinary hearing in Auckland at 0300 BST on Tuesday.

If Lawes is found guilty, judicial officer Terry Willis must then judge the entry level of the offence - the lowest being three weeks - and determine whether there are any mitigating or aggravating circumstances. 

At a World Cup the ban is normally handed out in terms of matches rather than weeks so the Northampton star faces an anxious wait to find out how many of England’s games he could miss out on.

England manager Martin Johnson said: "We have received notification of Courtney's citing. We will of course provide Rugby World Cup with any information required and attend the hearing as requested.

"There will be no further comment until after the hearing."

Lawes was also involved in a controversial tackle on centre Gonzalo Tiesi during the 13-9 win after he hit the Argentina centre after he had kicked the ball.

The hit caused Tiesi knee ligament damage that has ruled the player out of the rest of the tournament but the 6ft 7in second rower has avoided being cited for that incident.