The Chiefs, top-placed of the New Zealand franchises in fifth position, will have to wait a few anxious days to hear the fate of prop Deacon Manu, who have to face a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday.

The Chiefs head the New Zealand challenge after their stunning 27-20 upset win over the defending champions, the Blues, at Eden Park in Auckland last Friday.

But the negative spin-off from the game is the disciplinary hearing, following a tackle on Blues first five-eighth Carlos Spencer - which left the star No.10 needing surgery to insert a plate in his broken jaw.

Manu now faces a charge of having executed a dangerous tackle. The incident was not spotted by the match officials, but the citing commissioner, Steve Hinds, decided it was serious enough to warrant a hearing.

The Chiefs have a bye this week. Their next match is against the Crusaders in Hamilton on March 20.

They will still be without scrum-half Isaac Boss, who was suspended following a stomping incident the previous week - an incident in which two of his team-mates, prop Michael Collins and lock Keith Robinson, were cleared of any wrongdoing.

The possible loss of Manu would be a huge blow. He is the tighthead pillar of the pack, and both of the other props used so far - Simms Davison and Michael Collins - are mainly looseheads.

If Manu is ruled out, it would bring the inexperienced Bay of Plenty tighthead Ben Castle into the playing squad.

Meanwhile, in other news from New Zealand, the Hurricanes management confirmed at the weekend that All Black midfielder Ma’a Nonu and prop Neemia Tialata were axed from the team to face the Stormers at Newlands on Saturday for breaking team rules.

Management refused to provide the exact details of the transgressions, but confirmed that internal disciplinary steps were taken against the duo.

Hurricanes team manager John Knowles told the media that no members of the public were involved in the incidents, which resulted in the duo being axed by coach Colin Cooper on Friday morning.

The decision became public knowledge only when the team changes were announced minutes before kick-off of the match won 25-19 by the Hurricanes.

For Nonu, his axing was another blow this year after an ankle injury hampered his early-season game time.

The 21-year-old Nonu, who is in his second Super 12 season, would have partnered Hurricanes captain Tana Umaga in the midfield. Former Aucklander Tane Tuipulotu came back into the starting XV to partner Umaga.

Tialata, who is also 21, had been listed as a standby to sit on the bench, but when Joe McDonnell was cleared, Tony Penn - and not Tialata - started from the bench.

The disciplined players ended up filming the match for Cooper from on top of the Newlands grandstand roof, instead of playing.

It is believed no further action would be taken against the players beyond their one-game suspension.

It is team protocol not to reveal the reason for the players’ suspensions. According to team management two players had been similarly dropped last year, but it was never made public.

Cooper is determined to bring more discipline to a Super 12 team which has a reputation for pushing the limits.

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