Bristol Shoguns prop Julian White will discover tonight if he will be sidelined for England's autumn international campaign.

White faces an Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing at Newbury this evening following his dismissal, after only three minutes, for butting Graham Rowntree during Bristol's 25-20 Premiership victory over Leicester eight days ago.

The Shoguns imposed their own 14-day ban on the tight head prop but he is likely to face a much sterner punishment from the RFU.

White will be accompanied by the club's coach, Peter Thorburn, company secretary David Winnie and solicitor Owen Eastwood.

Butting carries a sentence of anything from one week to nine months, depending on the degree of violence involved.

If the panel decide a ban for the considered 'norm' of 20 weeks is warranted, White will not play again until January.

White's sending-off was his second against Leicester in four months and his third in fewer than three years - the first coming when he was a Saracens player.

Recent high-profile disciplinary-cases involving England players have produced unpredictable results. Last month, Bath's Danny Grewcock won his fight for justice but not before being banned for five weeks for allegedly kicking Kyran Bracken in the face during the Premiership match at Saracens. Within a fortnight, a different RFU tribunal cleared him after he produced photographic evidence indicating the incident had been accidental.

Two other England players, Martin Johnson and Austin Healey escaped with comparatively light punishments over offences committed during last two seasons. Johnson, found guilty of kneeing a Saracens player and also for punching White in the same cup-tie, escaped the 'normal punishment'. His sentence, reduced from six weeks to five, miraculously ended the day before England began their Six Nations campaign against Wales last year.

Healey's suspension last season was every bit as convenient. Faced with a sixweek ban for kicking Sale wing Anthony Elliott last December, the subsequent three-week ban allowed him to further his England career without disruption.