Joe Marler to learn Six Nations fate on Tuesday after red card for shoulder charge on Sale's TJ Ioane

Ioane has also been cited for striking Marler five minutes before the Harlequins prop was sent off

Joe Marler is facing a ban that could see him miss the Six Nations opener against Italy (Getty)

Joe Marler will discover his Six Nations fate on Tuesday when he faces a disciplinary hearing relating to the red card that the Harlequins prop received during Saturday’s Premiership defeat by Sale Sharks, with any ban likely to see him suspended for the start of the championship next month.

Marler was sent-off in the 58th minute of the 30-29 loss at the AJ Bell Stadium at the weekend when referee Matthew Carley adjudged him to have struck TJ Ioane in the head with his shoulder, with the Sale forward attempting to move away from a ruck and not contesting the ball at the time of impact.

The dismissal was yet another blemish on 27-year-old Marler’s record this season, having already served a three-match ban last year for an incident involving Wasps forward Will Rowlands that led to him being unavailable for selection for the opening autumn international against Argentina last November.

Marler will appear before a three-person disciplinary panel in London on Tuesday evening, and any suspension could see him miss England’s opening Six Nations encounter with Italy in three weeks’ time, with Eddie Jones’s side due to take on Wales at Twickenham the following weekend on 10 February.

Punishment for striking with the shoulder sees suspensions starts at two weeks for lower-end offences, but contact with the head results in at least a mid-range entry level at six weeks, which would see Marler banned for both the Italy and Wales games – though he would be available for the trip to Murrayfield to face Scotland on 24 February.

Sale flanker Ioane has been cited for a separate incident with Marler from the same encounter, with the Samoan accused of “striking Marler with the arm” five minutes before Marler was sent off. The 28-year-old will face the same disciplinary panel after Marler’s hearing to answer his citation after appearing to throw his arm at Marler’s head in the 53rd minute of the match.

If found guilty, Ioane could face a ban of at least four weeks as RFU guidelines require a mid-entry point sanction due to the impact with Marler’s head.

Should Marler be suspended, England head coach Jones will find himself somewhat short of loosehead props as Ellis Genge remains unavailable after having shoulder surgery last month. In the Leicester Tigers prop’s absence, Bath’s Beno Obano was called up for the two-day training camp in Brighton at the start of the month.

Obano looks almost certain to be named in Jones’ Six Nations squad – providing he maintains his fitness – alongside first-choice Mako Vunipola, while Sale Sharks’ Ross Harison and Exeter Chiefs’ Australia-born Alex Hepburn – who has represented England through Under-18s, Under-20s and Saxons levels – would be among those in contention to fill the third loosehead spot in the England squad.