Springbok Forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels Given Nine-Game Ban for Genital Grab
The player will be unavailable for the Springboks' fall fixtures.
South Africa prop Wessels has been suspended of nine games for grabbing opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Bulls' United Rugby Championship victory over Connacht.
This event happened in the 18th minute of the narrow victory against Connacht on last Friday, with opposing player Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after striking back by striking Wessels on the head.
After the Connacht player reported the incident to the match official, the situation was checked by the TMO, who found no conclusive video evidence.
The Bulls player remained on the pitch until he was replaced in the later stages of the game.
While the URC confirmed that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was withdrawn by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was deemed to have violated the code of conduct, which specifies:
"Any athlete must not do anything that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes grabbing, pulling or compressing the genitals."
The panel concluded that the incident reached the level for dismissal and justified a three-month ban, the shortest suspension under World Rugby rules for such an offence.
However, the player's ban was reduced by three weeks because of his good conduct during the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Bulls are entitled to appeal, but as it stands, the ban will rule the young player out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against the Brave Blossoms, France, Italy and the Irish team.
Wessels will also miss the his club's URC games against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bordeaux and Saints.
Wessels has earned ten international appearances for the Springboks and was part of their tri-nations champion squad over the summer.
Murphy, in contrast, is available to play against the Irish rivals in this weekend's domestic clash after being exonerated.
