South African Forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels Handed Nine-Game Suspension for Genital Grab
The player is ruled out for the Springboks' autumn internationals.
South Africa front-rower Wessels has received a ban of nine games for grabbing Josh Murphy's private parts during the Blue Bulls' URC victory over the Irish province.
The incident occurred in the 18th minute of the narrow victory against Connacht on Friday, with Connacht forward Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after striking back by hitting the South African on the head.
Following Murphy reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the situation was reviewed by the television match official, who concluded no definitive proof.
Wessels remained on the field until he was substituted in the later stages of the game.
While the URC announced that Murphy's 20-minute red card was overturned by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was deemed to have violated law 9.27, which declares:
"Any athlete must not engage in actions that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. Such behavior covers grabbing, twisting or compressing the private areas."
The panel concluded that the contact met the red card threshold and warranted a three-month ban, the shortest suspension under World Rugby regulations for such an offence.
Nonetheless, the player's ban was reduced by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but currently, the suspension will rule the young player out of the South African national team's fall internationals against Japan, France, the Azzurri and the Irish team.
Wessels will additionally be absent for the Bulls' URC games against Glasgow, the Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bègles and Northampton.
Wessels has won ten international appearances for South Africa and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning squad over the summer.
The Connacht player, meanwhile, is eligible to play against the Irish rivals in this weekend's domestic clash after being exonerated.
