South African Player Wessels Receives Nine-Game Suspension for Inappropriate Contact
Wessels is ruled out for the Springboks' upcoming test matches.
South Africa front-rower Wessels has received a ban of nine matches for grabbing Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over Connacht.
This event happened in the early stages of the close contest in Galway on last Friday, with opposing player Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after reacting angrily by striking Wessels on the head area.
After the Connacht player complained to the match official, the contact was checked by the television match official, who concluded no definitive proof.
The Bulls player remained on the pitch until he was replaced in the second half of the match.
While the United Rugby Championship announced that the Irish player's 20-minute red card was rescinded by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was found to have violated law 9.27, which specifies:
"A player must not engage in actions that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. Such behavior covers grabbing, twisting or squeezing the genitals."
Disciplinary officials concluded that the incident reached the red card threshold and warranted a 12-week suspension, the shortest ban under international rugby rules for such an violation.
Nonetheless, the player's suspension was reduced by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Bulls are entitled to appeal, but currently, the suspension will rule the 24-year-old out of the Springboks' fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, France, the Azzurri and the Irish team.
Wessels will also miss the Bulls' URC games against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as Investec Champions 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, meanwhile, is available to face the Irish rivals in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.
