South African Forward Wessels Handed Nine-Match Suspension for Genital Grab
The player will be unavailable for South Africa's autumn internationals.
South Africa prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels has received a ban of nine games for touching opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Bulls' URC victory over Connacht.
The altercation occurred in the early stages of the narrow victory against Connacht on Friday, with opposing player Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after striking back by striking Wessels on the head area.
After Murphy complained to the match official, the situation was examined by the TMO, who found no definitive proof.
Wessels remained on the pitch until he was replaced in the second half of the game.
Although the United Rugby Championship confirmed that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was withdrawn by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was found to have breached the code of conduct, which declares:
"Any athlete must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes touching, pulling or compressing the genitals."
The panel concluded that the contact met the level for dismissal and justified a 12-week suspension, the minimum ban under World Rugby rules for such an infringement.
However, Wessels' suspension was reduced by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.
The forward and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but currently, the ban will rule the 24-year-old out of the South African national team's fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, Italy and the Irish team.
Wessels will additionally be absent for the Bulls' league matches against Warriors, the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bègles and Saints.
Wessels has earned ten international appearances for the Springboks and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning team over the summer.
The Connacht player, meanwhile, is available to face Munster in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being exonerated.
