Samoa's hopes of rescuing something from a wretched World Cup campaign suffered a new blow after Faifili Levave and Alesana Tuilagi were cited over incidents during Saturday's defeat by Japan.

Levave was sin-binned for the offence he has been cited for by independent Citing Commissioner Yves Thieffine which is for "playing the opponent without the ball".

Tuilagi, who enjoyed a successful spell with Leicester Tigers finishing leading try scorer in 2012, has been cited for an offence which was not seen at the time by South African referee Craig Joubert.

Tuilagi was accused of an alleged foul "striking with the knee" in the second minute of the Pool B match in Milton Keynes, said a World Rugby statement. Japan won the game 26-5.

Tuilagi's hearing is set for Tuesday at 1300 GMT and Levave's for Wednesday at 0900 GMT. Both hearings will be before independent judicial officer Antony Davies.

Samoa are out of contention for the quarter-finals but could still affect who does progress.

If they beat Scotland in their final Pool B game on Saturday it would leave the door ajar for Japan, who trail the Scots by two points, to get a route to the last eight.

Source: AFP