The disciplinary hearing which followed CJ Stander’s red card in Ireland’s win over South Africa in Cape Town was adjourned until tomorrow (Monday) and will resume at 10am in Johannesburg, and so the Irish flanker’s fate for the remainder of the tour remains in the balance.

It is understood that the hearing lasted five hours without any resolution, before the judiciary officer, Terry Willis of Australia, decided to adjourn matters and also move the hearing to Johannesburg, where both the Irish and Springboks’ squad are travelling this afternoon.

Stander was red carded in the 23rd minute by French referee Mathie Reynard when following through on his attempted charge down and, airborne, colliding with Pat Lambie, his one-time South African under-20s captain. Lambie was stretchered off and will miss the second test after suffering concussion, although x-rays revealed no further damage.

If suspended, Stander will assuredly miss the remainder of the tour in his native country, but Ireland were clearly intent on mounting a strong defence of the player, on the basis that contrary to the viewpoint of the referee and TMO, Jim Yuille of Scotland, Stander had made a genuine attempt to block Lambie’s chip over the advancing Irish line.

After the match, Joe Schmidt said: "I thought the red card was very, very harsh to be honest. CJ's got both hands extended, once you're in the air you can't change your trajectory. The one thing I would say, I think Pat Lambie's a super player, and I certainly hope that Pat's OK. I know CJ and Pat are friends, and that they know each other. CJ was upset that Pat was hurt as much as he was upset that he had to leave the field. It's one of those thing that happens. I think, sometimes, when there is an injury like that, the consequence is that a card comes out and that was the result."

Hence, Schmidt was hopeful that Stander would not be suspended for next Saturday’s second test in Johannesburg.

“We’re going to find out in the next couple of days what, if any, consequences there are from his attempted charge-down.

So, we’d be delighted to get him back if that’s possible. If we don’t, this is a 32-man squad, there are 32 players working to try and be selected and it means somebody else will step up and fill the breach.”