South African Forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels Receives Nine-Match Suspension for Inappropriate Contact
The player is ruled out for South Africa's autumn internationals.
South Africa prop Wessels has received a ban of nine matches for touching opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over Connacht.
This event occurred in the early stages of the close contest in Galway on last Friday, with opposing player Murphy receiving a 20-minute red card after reacting angrily by striking the South African on the head.
Following Murphy reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the situation was checked by the television match official, who concluded no definitive proof.
Wessels remained on the pitch until he was substituted in the later stages of the game.
While the URC announced that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was withdrawn by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was found to have breached the code of conduct, which specifies:
"Any athlete should not engage in actions that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes touching, pulling or squeezing the private areas."
Disciplinary officials determined that the incident reached the red card threshold and justified a 12-week suspension, the shortest suspension under World Rugby regulations for such an violation.
Nonetheless, the player's suspension was reduced by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Bulls are entitled to appeal, but currently, the suspension will rule the young player out of the South African national team's fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, Italy and the Irish team.
Wessels will also miss the Bulls' league matches against Glasgow, the Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bordeaux and Northampton.
The prop has earned ten international appearances for the Springboks and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning team during the recent tournament.
Murphy, in contrast, is available to face the Irish rivals in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.
