UPDATE: Wallabies winger Reece Hodge will face a World Rugby hearing on Wednesday in Tokyo at 3pm local time to find out whether he will be suspended for a tackle on Fijian flanker Peceli Yato.
World Rugby and Rugby Australia had been working towards confirming a hearing date and the global body announced the timing on Monday evening, saying it was set down at Rugby AU's request.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said he was a "little disappointed" with Hodge's citing and that Fiji's decision to refer the incident wasn't "in the spirit of the game".
Fiji opted to refer Hodge's tackle on flanker Peceli Yato in the 26th minute after the openside was forced off with concussion, and the referee and TMO had decided against taking action on-field.
Under World Rugby laws, teams have 12 hours to refer an incident to the citing commissioner, who then determines whether it requires further action.
Cheika said he was surprised that Fiji opted to refer the incident, with management showing no indication that they were planning to do so when speaking after the match.
"Probably the most disappointing thing was the Fijians.," Cheika said on Monday morning in Tokyo.
"I think after the game we had a lot of friendly discussion with myself and the coach, he talked to our other coaches, there was no mention of anything and then to get a referral and the way it was referred.
"Especially, that was really disappointing, I don't find that, the way that they brought that, in the spirit of the game at all, which is something you know from Fiji.
"The coaching staff, I was really quite surprised with they way they brought their own referral post-match.
"That would've been a little disappointing from a spirit of rugby point of view. I prefer they come up to me and get upset with me, if they were really upset about it, not to then talk to me in that nice sort of friendly chitty chat way and then put in a referral, don't think I've ever referred anyone."
Cheika said the ultimate decision to cite Hodge on Sunday afternoon was somewhat surprising after the messages coaches received ahead of the tournament in a meeting in Tokyo last week with referees manager Alain Rolland and citing commissioner manager Steve Hinds.
"I think a little disappointed because we went to the meeting last Tuesday all the coaches up into Tokyo for a meeting with the referees boss and the citing commissioners boss Steve Hinds, then with the judiciary committee boss and they explained the way things would work, which all sounded really good, to be honest," he said.
WALLABIES TO CHALLENGE HODGE CITING AS NOT "CLEAR AND OBVIOUS" RED
"I think they're looking to have a bit more empathy fro the game, footballing situations.
"Why I say disappointing in the fact is, Steven Hinds mentioned that if a team of four (referees) had dealt with it it on the day that it would have to be clear and obvious for it to get cited.
"So they're working together as a team, they were talking about calibration, I think was their buzz word, and I think it was pretty clear that all the officials dealt with it on the day and I think if you've seen from the conjecture around and the majority of footballers, rugby players from the past who have have said it's not an illegal tackle, that it's not clear and obvious even in that point of view, so i was surprised that it was cited."
Former Wallabies hooker Phil Kearns slammed World Rugby's decision to cite Hodge, describing the decision as a "load of tripe" on FOX SPORTS and saying the citing only came because of media pressure from around the world.
Further afield, former England coach Clive Woodward said there were "mitigating circumstances" to be found.
"He was protecting himself, so to go in with this big guy from Fiji running in and try to go in with your head and try and grasp this guy, you are in danger," Woodward said.
"He is protecting himself. You have to look. There are a few mitigating circumstances there.
"The referee has seen it and the TMO has seen it, and at the time, they’re thinking, 'I am happy with that tackle'. "
Wilkinson agreed that the situation wasn't straightforward.
"If you look at, Reece Hodge doesn’t go in there to try and absolutely obliterate him. He goes in, in a way, to try and manage the situation. It’s unfortunate what happened and I agree the arm is not quite there and it hits the head, so it is what it is."
Asked about Kearns' comments and whether he felt public pressure led to the decision, Cheika said his concern was more about the creation of a lack of faith in referees.
"I don't think so, I think because I don't know which public's saying it," he said.
"Public pressure? I'm not sure which public put (pressure on).
There has already been a bit of talk about referees and their decisions but let’s appreciate the difficult roles they have..
— Drew Mitchell (@drew_mitchell) September 22, 2019
Many are very quick to condemn before having all the evidence. Just like this ‘no arms high shot’ from Hodge..
Both his arms are wrapped, play on.. pic.twitter.com/pfwfLA84Yc
"I just think the game's, it's pretty simple. If you see what happened there and all the different circumstances that were involved in the whole incident, the fact that the linesman, the assistant referee's right there, referee's right there, the TMO's got the footage on it as well and he looked at it as well.
"What is probably more unnerving for me is the lack of confidence in the referees, that they could all be there.
"Then that puts doubt in the referees for the next game, 'Oh what do I do?' and that's not fair to them, to the referees, it's already hard enough for them and then they've got that doubt put in them and then the TMOs.
"I think it was a good decision made on the run in the field, in difficult circumstances."
Should Hodge fail to be cleared in the hearing, Dane Haylett-Petty could loom as the first option to replace him on the wing, while Adam Ashley-Cooper could also slot in on the edge.
Cheika confirmed on Monday that youngster Jordan Petaia would not be available for the Wales clash this weekend, still recovering from a hamstring injury.
"Jordan won't be ready for this weekend's game, I can tell you that now, but we'll deal with everything, anything that comes at us in this World Cup, we'll just deal with it and keep moving," he said.
"We'll go across that with the selection meeting but mate, I'm not planning for failure, plan to succeed there and then we'll work it out from there."
The time of Hodge's hearing is yet to be confirmed but Cheika said they were working with World Rugby to try and make it happen as soon as possible.
