South African Player Wessels Handed Nine-Match Suspension for Inappropriate Contact

Springbok front-rower Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for grabbing opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Blue Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.

The incident happened in the 18th minute of the narrow victory against Connacht on Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy receiving a 20-minute red card after responding aggressively by hitting the South African on the head area.

Following the Connacht player complained to the match official, the event was reviewed by the TMO, who found insufficient clear footage.

The Bulls player stayed on the pitch until he was substituted in the later stages of the game.

Although the URC confirmed that Murphy's temporary sending-off was rescinded by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was deemed to have breached law 9.27, which states:

"Any athlete must not do anything that is contrary to the principles of fair play. This includes touching, twisting or squeezing the genitals."

Disciplinary officials determined that the event met the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the minimum ban under international rugby rules for such an violation.

Nonetheless, Wessels' ban was shortened by three weeks because of his good conduct prior to and at the proceedings and his good record.

Wessels and the Bulls are entitled to challenge the decision, but as it stands, the ban will rule the 24-year-old out of the South African national team's fall internationals against Japan, France, Italy and the Irish team.

Wessels will additionally be absent for the Bulls' league matches against Glasgow, the Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bègles and Saints.

Wessels has earned ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion squad during the recent tournament.

Murphy, meanwhile, is available to play against Munster in this weekend's domestic clash after being cleared.