WING Bryce Heem’s hopes of helping Worcester Warriors avoid relegation from the Gallagher Premiership are in jeopardy after being cited for an alleged tip tackle.

The New Zealander was brandished a yellow card by referee Ian Tempest for his challenge on Sale back Paolo Odogwe in Saturday’s 39-17 victory over Sale Sharks at Sixways.

However Heem has been cited by independent citing commissioner Will James following the clash and is now due to attend a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, starting at 6.30pm.

Sale centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg is also set to appear before the panel after allegedly striking scrum-half Francois Hougaard in the first half.

According to the Rugby Football Union’s rules “a player must not lift an opponent off the ground and drop or drive that player so that their head and/or upper body make contact with the ground”.

If Heem is found guilty the entry point for a low-end offence is six weeks, while it is 10 weeks for mid-range and the high end is between 14 weeks and the maximum of 52 weeks.

The 30-year-old who has scored 12 tries in 21 appearances for Warriors this season will leave the club at the end of the campaign.

Should Heem be hit with a ban it would also be a big blow for Warriors who have yet to retain their place in the top-flight.

They sit seven points clear of bottom club Newcastle Falcons with three games remaining.

Sharks boss Steve Diamond was baffled by Tempest’s decision not to red card Heem, insisting “Chris Ashton got a seven-week ban for less than that”.

Sale wing Ashton was suspended for a tip-tackle on Castres scrum-half Rory Kockott in August last year.

“If you land on your head, it’s a red isn’t it?," Diamond said.

“Chris Ashton got a seven-week ban for less than that.”

Asked whether he thought Heem’s offence would be picked up by the citing commissioner, Diamond replied: “I don’t know and to be fair I am not interested.

“As we went to the RFU disciplinary the other week and on the balance of probability (Sale hooker) Rob Webber had a bite mark on his hand.

“But Newcastle got away with it so I am not too fused what they do.

“It’s somewhere between a red and a red.”

However Warriors director of rugby Alan Solomons said Heem’s yellow was the correct call by Tempest.

“It’s very difficult (to say) as you see it in a split second,” Solomons said.

“I have not had the benefit of having a look at the replay so I don’t really know.

“From watching it I understood the yellow but it was certainly no more than that.”

Diamond had no complaints with the result as he felt Sale were “beaten by the better side”.

“They beat us in every area of the game,” Diamond said.

“They were desperate for a win so fair play to them.

“We were well prepared but sometimes a little bit of desperation works for teams.

“We have got two home games left and with the way the results have gone if we can win those two we will be in Europe.

“But we need to turn up better than we did (on Saturday).”