South African Forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels Receives Nine-Game Suspension for Genital Grab
Wessels will be unavailable for the Springboks' upcoming test matches.
South Africa prop Wessels has received a ban of nine matches for making contact with Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.
The incident occurred in the early stages of the narrow victory in Galway on last Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after reacting angrily by striking Wessels on the head area.
After Murphy complained to referee Mike Adamson, the contact was reviewed by the TMO, who found no conclusive video evidence.
The Bulls player stayed on the field until he was substituted in the second half of the game.
Although the URC announced that the Irish player's 20-minute red card was withdrawn by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was found to have breached law 9.27, which states:
"Any athlete must not do anything that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. Such behavior covers touching, pulling or compressing the private areas."
Disciplinary officials were satisfied that the contact reached the level for dismissal and justified a three-month ban, the shortest suspension under international rugby regulations for such an violation.
Nonetheless, Wessels' ban was shortened by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the proceedings and his good record.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team have the right to challenge the decision, but currently, the suspension will prevent the 24-year-old out of the Springboks' fall internationals against Japan, Les Bleus, the Azzurri and the Irish team.
He will additionally be absent for the Bulls' URC games against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bègles and Northampton.
Wessels has earned ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning squad during the recent tournament.
The Connacht player, meanwhile, is available to face the Irish rivals in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.
