South African Forward Wessels Handed Nine-Match Ban for Genital Grab
Wessels will miss for the Springboks' fall fixtures.
South Africa prop Wessels has received a ban of nine games for making contact with Josh Murphy's private parts during the Blue Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.
The incident happened in the 18th minute of the Bulls' 28-27 win in Galway on last Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy receiving a 20-minute red card after reacting angrily by striking Wessels on the head.
Following the Connacht player reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the event was examined by the television match official, who concluded insufficient clear footage.
Wessels stayed on the field until he was substituted in the later stages of the match.
Although the URC confirmed that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was withdrawn by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was deemed to have breached law 9.27, which declares:
"Any athlete must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes touching, twisting or compressing the genitals."
Disciplinary officials determined that the incident reached the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the shortest suspension under World Rugby regulations for such an offence.
Nonetheless, Wessels' suspension was shortened by 21 days 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 suspension will rule the young player out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against the Brave Blossoms, France, the Azzurri and Ireland.
Wessels will additionally be absent for the Bulls' league matches against Warriors, the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bègles and Northampton.
Wessels has earned 10 caps for the Springboks and was part of their tri-nations champion squad over the summer.
Murphy, meanwhile, is available to face Munster in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being exonerated.
