South African Forward Wessels Receives Nine-Game Suspension for Inappropriate Contact
Wessels will be unavailable for South Africa's fall fixtures.
South Africa front-rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been suspended of nine games for touching Josh Murphy's private parts during the Blue Bulls' URC victory over the Irish province.
The incident happened in the early stages of the close contest in Galway on Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after responding aggressively by striking the South African on the head.
After Murphy reported the incident to the match official, the event 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 match.
Although the URC announced that Murphy's 20-minute red card was rescinded by a governing body, Wessels was found to have violated the code of conduct, which declares:
"A player must not engage in actions that is against the principles of fair play. Such behavior covers grabbing, pulling or squeezing the genitals."
The panel determined that the contact met the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the minimum suspension under World Rugby rules for such an violation.
Nonetheless, the player's ban was reduced by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior during the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but as it stands, the ban will prevent the young player out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against the Brave Blossoms, France, the Azzurri and the Irish team.
He will additionally be absent for the Bulls' league matches against Warriors, the Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bordeaux and Saints.
Wessels has earned 10 caps for the Springboks and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning squad during the recent tournament.
The Connacht player, in contrast, is available to face the Irish rivals in this weekend's domestic clash after being exonerated.
