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England are being investigated for an alleged breach of protocol in communications with matchday officials during Saturday’s 33-13 defeat to Australia, World Rugby has announced.

A report in Australia states that two members of the coaching team approached match officials in the tunnel at Twickenham at half-time. The loss to the Wallabies meant the hosts were dumped out of the tournament with one pool match still to play.

‘‘World Rugby is investigating an alleged breach by the England coaching team of the match-day communications protocol between match officials and team members or union officials during the match between England and Australia,’’ a World Rugby Statement read.

The incident is said to have focus around a challenge from Michael Hooper on Mike Brown, for which the Australia flanker has now been cited for alleged foul play.

The coaching members in question were clearly frustrated at the decision not to reprimand Hooper at the time for what independent citing commissioner Steve Hinds has said breaches the rule against ‘charging into a ruck or maul without use of the arms or grasping the player’.

It is believed there is CCTV footage available of the position in the tunnel where the alleged incident took place and this may be used as part of any investigation.

The developments come at a time when head coach Stuart Lancaster is under enormous pressure to remain in charge despite being contracted until 2020.

Following confirmation that England are the first host nation to fail to progress to the World Cup knock-out stages, Lancaster said: ‘‘I’m the head coach and we didn’t get out of the pool. This is going to sit with us all forever – players, coaches, management.

‘‘I don’t think I’ll ever come to terms with it personally because it was such a big thing. I’ve had some great moments coaching England and I’ve had some disappointing ones, but this pales everything else into insignificance because of what the tournament means to everyone.’’

While the England camp face a week of introspection following the chastening defeat to Michael Cheika’s side, Australia have their tails up and have already returned to the training field ahead of their Pool A decider with Wales.

The Twickenham clash this Saturday will decide which of the pair will top the pool to face either Scotland or Japan in the quarter-finals, and who will be drawn with South Africa.

Hooper faces a nervous wait to find out if he will be available for selection, however, with the 23-year-old set to attend a disciplinary hearing in London today to learn the full extent of his punishment.

Australia’s win dumped England out of the World Cup, and Hooper – who joined his team-mates for a training session in the rain at Dulwich College yesterday – played a pivotal role alongside David Pocock and Scott Fardy, but his participation against Wales, and possibly beyond that, could now be in doubt.— DailyMail.