South African Player Jan-Hendrik Wessels Given Nine-Game Ban for Genital Grab
The player will be unavailable for the Springboks' fall fixtures.
Springbok front-rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels faces a suspension of nine matches for grabbing Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' URC win over Connacht.
This event occurred in the 18th minute of the narrow victory against Connacht on last Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after responding aggressively by hitting Wessels on the head.
After the Connacht player reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the event was checked by the television match official, who concluded no conclusive video evidence.
The Bulls player remained on the pitch until he was substituted in the later stages of the match.
While the United Rugby Championship announced that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was overturned by a governing body, Wessels was found to have violated law 9.27, which declares:
"A player must not do anything that is against the principles of fair play. Such behavior covers touching, twisting or compressing the private areas."
Disciplinary officials were satisfied that the contact reached the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the minimum ban under World Rugby rules for such an violation.
Nonetheless, the player's ban 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 have the right to challenge the decision, but currently, the ban will rule the young player out of the Springboks' autumn Tests against Japan, France, Italy and the Irish team.
He will additionally be absent for the Bulls' league matches against Warriors, the Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup fixtures with Bègles and Saints.
Wessels has earned ten international appearances for the Springboks and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning squad during the recent tournament.
The Connacht player, in contrast, is eligible to play against Munster in this weekend's domestic clash after being cleared.
