South African Forward Wessels Receives Nine-Match Suspension for Genital Grab

Springbok front-rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been suspended of nine games for touching opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over Connacht.

The incident happened in the early stages of the close contest against Connacht on last Friday, with opposing player Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after responding aggressively by hitting the South African on the head area.

Following Murphy reported the incident to the match official, the situation was examined by the television match official, who found insufficient clear footage.

Wessels stayed on the field until he was replaced in the second half of the game.

Although the United Rugby Championship announced that Murphy's 20-minute red card was overturned by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was deemed to have violated the code of conduct, which specifies:

"A player should not do anything that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes grabbing, pulling or compressing the private areas."

The panel determined that the incident reached the level for dismissal and justified a three-month ban, the minimum ban under World Rugby regulations for such an infringement.

However, Wessels' suspension was reduced by three weeks because of his good conduct prior to and at the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.

Wessels and the Bulls 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 fall internationals against Japan, France, Italy and Ireland.

Wessels will also miss the his club's URC games against Warriors, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup fixtures with Bègles and Saints.

Wessels has won 10 caps for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion team over the summer.

The Connacht player, meanwhile, is available to face Munster in this weekend's domestic clash after being exonerated.