KEY POINTS:
PARIS - England rugby captain Phil Vickery has become the first player cited at the World Cup.
Vickery was cited for tripping Paul Emerick during his side's 28-10 victory over the United States. He could miss the key group clash against South Africa on Saturday.
The tight-head prop insisted his blatant tripping of centre Emerick had been an accident, but the citing commissioner, New Zealander Steve Hinds, saw it differently.
The incident was missed by referee Jonathan Kaplan of South Africa despite being in the direct line of sight of the other 36,000 people at the game.
A suspension would stop Vickery meeting the Boks. His replacement would likely be Matt Stevens.
Vickery did not seek to deny he tripped Emerick in the 15th minute of the match.
"It was just instinctive to try to stop him. Unfortunately I tapped him. Luckily he got up. There was certainly no malice on my part."
Emerick himself was also cited for a late spear tackle on Olly Barkley, even though he was sinbinned for the offence.
The US player said: "If I hadn't been tripped, I'd like to think I'd have had a real go for the line. I'm not one to make a fuss, though."
England coach Brian Ashton had been expected to name his team overnight for the pool A match in Paris but may now delay it to await the outcome of Vickery's hearing.
- Reuters
