Springbok Forward Wessels Receives Nine-Game Suspension for Genital Grab
Wessels will miss for the Springboks' upcoming test matches.
South Africa front-rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels faces a suspension of nine matches for making contact with Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' URC win over Connacht.
The altercation occurred in the early stages of the close contest against Connacht on last Friday, with opposing player Josh Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after responding aggressively by striking the South African on the head area.
After the Connacht player reported the incident to the match official, the contact was checked by the television match official, who determined no conclusive video evidence.
The Bulls player remained on the field until he was substituted in the second half of the game.
While the URC announced that the Irish player's 20-minute red card was rescinded by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was deemed to have breached the code of conduct, which declares:
"A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes touching, twisting or compressing the genitals."
The panel were satisfied that the contact met the red card threshold and justified a 12-week suspension, the shortest ban under World Rugby regulations for such an infringement.
Nonetheless, the player's ban was shortened by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
The forward and the Pretoria-based team have the right to challenge the decision, but currently, the ban will prevent the young player out of the Springboks' fall internationals against Japan, Les Bleus, the Azzurri and Ireland.
Wessels will also miss the his club's league matches against Glasgow, the Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bordeaux and Saints.
The prop has won 10 caps for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion squad over the summer.
Murphy, meanwhile, is eligible to face the Irish rivals in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.
