The International Rugby Board is considering extending the period of time after a match in which a player can be cited.
The IRB has confirmed it can not cite France centre Aurelien Rougerie for an incident during last month's World Cup final against the All Blacks.
Television pictures appeared to show Rougerie raking his hand across New Zealand captain Richie McCaw's face.
But current rules prevent action being taken because the footage emerged more than 36 hours after the game.
Citings can only take place after that time in exceptional circumstances which, according to the IRB, "deal principally with mistaken identity and where further time is required to identify a player who may have committed an act of foul play".
A statement from the IRB says it has determined the incident does not fall within those provisions.
It says it is considering either extending the citing periods or widening the remit of the exceptional circumstance provisions.
