South African Forward Wessels Receives Nine-Game Suspension for Genital Grab
The player will be unavailable for the Springboks' upcoming test matches.
Springbok prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels faces a suspension of nine matches for grabbing Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over the Irish province.
The altercation happened in the early stages of the narrow victory in Galway on Friday, with opposing player Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after responding aggressively by hitting Wessels on the head area.
After the Connacht player reported the incident to the match official, the contact was examined by the television match official, who found no conclusive video evidence.
Wessels stayed on the field until he was replaced in the second half of the game.
While the United Rugby Championship confirmed that Murphy's 20-minute red card was rescinded by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was deemed to have breached law 9.27, which declares:
"Any athlete should not do anything that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. Such behavior covers touching, pulling or compressing the genitals."
The panel determined that the contact met the level for dismissal and justified a three-month ban, the minimum suspension under international rugby regulations for such an infringement.
Nonetheless, the player's suspension was shortened by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the proceedings and his good record.
The forward and the Bulls have the right to challenge the decision, but currently, the ban will rule the 24-year-old out of the Springboks' fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, France, the Azzurri and the Irish team.
He will additionally be absent for the Bulls' league matches against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bordeaux and Northampton.
Wessels has earned 10 caps for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion squad during the recent tournament.
Murphy, meanwhile, is available to face the Irish rivals in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.
