The Highlanders winger Siale Piutau has been cited for striking Lions' Michael Rhodes twice in the head in retaliation after the flanker pulled him out of a ruck in a headlock during their Super rugby match on Saturday night.
Rhodes will also face a judicial panel for the headlock which happened during the tense second half of the Johannesburg-based Lions' last-gasp 26-22 victory in Dunedin.
A suspension for Piutau would come as a further blow to the Highlanders' post-season hopes, on a knife-edge following their shock defeat at home to the last-placed Lions.
The Dunedin-based Highlanders, who held sixth spot and the final playoff berth coming into the Lions match, have now slipped to eighth, two points behind the sixth-placed New South Wales Waratahs with three rounds remaining in the regular season.
