Manu Samoa are sweating on the potential loss of two key components of their Rugby World Cup campaign after seeing Wallabies winger Reece Hodge’s three-game ban.
Former Hurricanes players Ray Lee-lo and Motu Matu’u were both cited for their dangerous tackles in Samoa’s 34-9 win over Russia on Tuesday. Both received yellow cards for their infringements at the time.
1 NEWS understands the duo have today travelled from their team camp in Kobe to Tokyo – a 525 kilometre journey – for disciplinary meetings with an independent committee.
A team insider told 1 NEWS Manu Samoa management are “very anxious” about further punishments for the pair after Hodge received a three-game ban for his dangerous tackle in the Wallabies’ win over Fiji.
Hodge wasn’t disciplined in the match for his tackle but was cited after the match, leading to his ban.
Losing either player to suspensions would hurt Samoa’s chances of getting out of the group, with Matu’u the team’s most experienced hooker on 22 caps and Lee-lo the most experienced midfielder with 26 Tests to his name.
Manu Samoa’s next two games are vital to their tournament, with a match against Scotland first up next Monday at 11:15pm before facing Japan six days later.
Winning both Tests would almost ensure the Pacific side gets out of Pool A with a game to spare against group favourites, Ireland.
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