Springbok Player Wessels Receives Nine-Game Suspension for Genital Grab
Wessels is ruled out for South Africa's upcoming test matches.
South Africa prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been suspended of nine games for touching opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' URC victory over the Irish province.
This event happened in the 18th minute of the Bulls' 28-27 win against Connacht on last Friday, with opposing player Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after reacting angrily by striking the South African on the head area.
After Murphy complained to the match official, the event was reviewed by the television match official, who determined no conclusive video evidence.
Wessels stayed on the pitch until he was replaced in the second half of the match.
Although the United Rugby Championship confirmed that Murphy's 20-minute red card was overturned by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was deemed to have violated the code of conduct, which declares:
"Any athlete must not do anything that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes touching, pulling or compressing the private areas."
The panel concluded that the incident reached the red card threshold and justified a 12-week suspension, the shortest suspension under international rugby regulations for such an violation.
Nonetheless, the player's ban was shortened by 21 days because of his good conduct during the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but currently, the ban will rule the 24-year-old out of the Springboks' autumn Tests against the Brave Blossoms, France, Italy and Ireland.
Wessels will additionally be absent for the his club's URC games against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bordeaux and Northampton.
The prop has earned 10 caps for South Africa and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning squad over the summer.
The Connacht player, meanwhile, is available to face the Irish rivals in Saturday's domestic clash after being exonerated.
