Israel Folau has been dealt a crushing blow to his Australian rugby career after the governing body found him guilty of a 'high-level' breach of the Players' Code of Conduct for a homophobic social media post.
The Wallabies star has been locked in talks with Rugby Australia since Saturday about whether he can keep his spot on the national side.
It's all over an Instagram post where he said that gays, along with other sinners like drunks and fornicators, would go straight to hell.
Rugby Australia said in a statement last night: "The panel will now take further written submissions from the parties to consider the matter of sanction.
"A further update will be provided after the panel delivers its decision on sanctions."
It'll be interesting to see where RA goes with the punishment, however it will be under pressure on both sides.
It's a Rugby World Cup year and fans will want the best team possible however Folau did this exact thing last year and received some harsh words of warning that he'd get dumped if he repeated it.
In response to the social media post last month, RA CEO Raelene Castle said in a statement: "Whilst Israel is entitled to his religious beliefs, the way in which he has expressed these beliefs is inconsistent with the values of the sport.
"Israel has failed to understand that the expectation of him as a Rugby Australia and NSW Waratahs employee is that he cannot share material on social media that condemns, vilifies or discriminates against people on the basis of their sexuality.
"As a code we have made it clear to Israel formally and repeatedly that any social media posts or commentary that is in any way disrespectful to people because of their sexuality will result in disciplinary action."
He also received scorn from his Wallabies teammates, with Will Genia saying: "There are blokes at the Wallabies and the Waratahs that have certain beliefs that very much conflict with what he has said and done.
"I certainly think it makes it a bit uncomfortable for people within those team environments to relate to him and, moving forward, even to play with him."
You certainly don't want team cohesion to be in jeopardy when you're stepping out on the Rugby World Cup. There's no date set for the next round of the hearing so keep your eyes and ears peeled for updates.
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