Alex Lozowski cited over two acts of foul play as Saracens’ week goes from bad to worse

Saracens have seen their week go from bad to worse after centre Alex Lozowski was cited for two separate incidents during the European Champions Cup victory over Glasgow Warriors last Sunday, with the England international facing a lengthy ban if found guilty ahead of the autumn internationals.

Lozowski has been cited by match citing commissioner Tom Lowry for allegedly committing “an act of foul play by entering a ruck dangerously” without binding to another player in the 15th minute of the 13-3 victory, which is in contravention of Law 9.20. On top of that incident, the 25-year-old is also alleged to have committed a dangerous tackle on Glasgow full-back Ruaridh Jackson in the 33rd minute, in contravention of Law 9.13.

Both charges carry low-end entry suspensions of two weeks, mid-range entries of six weeks and top end from 10 weeks, and even if he is found guilty and handed the low-end bans, he could still end up missing part of the autumn internationals next month.

Lozowski’s form over the last year has seen him knocking on the door of the England squad, having made his debut on the tour of Argentina in the absence of their British and Irish Lions contingent, and he also played in the wins over the Pumas and Samoa during last year’s autumn internationals.

Lozowski’s hearing will take place in London on Tuesday evening.

While he is not yet an instrumental figure in the England line-up, Lozowski’s potential absence would be felt at Allianz Park, where Saracens return this weekend for the European Champions Cup visit of Lyon on Saturday night depleted of a number of players.

The most serious absence is that of Billy Vunipola, who sustained a broken arm in the same match last weekend and will miss the next three months as a result, while his older brother Mako Vunipola is a doubt due to suffering a calf strain at Scotstoun. Nick Isiekwe is also unlikely to feature having limped off with an ankle injury, and Owen Farrell, Jamie George and Maro Itoje will all be assessed after suffering knocks in the game.

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But it is the loss of Billy Vunipola that will hurt Saracens and England most.

The 25-year-old broke his left arm during Sunday’s victory, having fractured his right arm twice already this year, and it continues a horrendous run of luck over the last two seasons that has seen him struggle with shoulder, knee and arm injuries.

With the latest blow ruling Vunipola out until January, the No 8 will miss next month’s tests against South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Argentina, and he is likely to be short on match fitness when the Six Nations gets underway on 2 February – providing he recovers in time.

Writing to his followers on Instagram, Vunipola said: “I’ll be back, I won’t be bigger I won’t be better I’ll just be back! This ones cut me though.”

Vunipola broke his right arm in January just two games into his return from knee surgery and suffered a recurrence of the fracture during the summer tour of South Africa, which required surgery and kept him sidelined for the start of this season.

Having shown early signs of getting back to his imposing best in recent outings, the 25-year-old was forced off in the 52nd minute of Sunday’s victory at Scotstoun.

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The news is not only desperately sad for Vunipola but also impacts England head coach Eddie Jones, who has been unable to call on Vunipola for large periods of his reign in charge.

It leaves Jones short on experienced No 8s to select for the four autumn internationals against South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia as Exeter Chiefs’ Sam Simmonds is already absent through injury, while Wasps’ Nathan Hughes is facing a lengthy ban when his disciplinary hearing resumes on Wednesday.

In his absence, Zach Mercer could be in line to win his first Test cap against the Springboks after being included in the recent England training camp. The Bath back-row made his one and only England senior appearance in the defeat against the Barbarians last May, but appears to be ahead of the likes of Gloucester’s Ben Morgan, who has not featured with England since Jones took charge in 2016.

Meanwhile, Toulouse No 8 Jerome Kaino will face a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday after being accused of striking Jamie Roberts during their 22-20 victory over Bath on Saturday. Kaino was shown a yellow card by referee Andrew Brace, while Roberts did not return from his head injury assessment after being knocked out and suffering a concussion.