South African Forward Wessels Receives Nine-Game Ban for Inappropriate Contact
Wessels is ruled out for South Africa's fall fixtures.
South Africa front-rower Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for grabbing opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.
The incident happened in the 18th minute of the close contest in Galway on last Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after responding aggressively by hitting Wessels on the head area.
After Murphy reported the incident to the match official, the contact was checked by the television match official, who concluded no conclusive video evidence.
The Bulls player stayed on the pitch until he was replaced in the later stages of the match.
Although the URC announced that the Irish player's 20-minute red card was overturned by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was deemed to have violated law 9.27, which specifies:
"Any athlete should not do anything that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. Such behavior covers touching, pulling or compressing the private areas."
The panel were satisfied that the incident met the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the shortest ban under World Rugby rules for such an violation.
However, the player's ban was shortened by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior during the proceedings and his good record.
The forward and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to appeal, but as it stands, the suspension will prevent the young player out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against Japan, Les Bleus, Italy and Ireland.
Wessels will also miss the Bulls' URC games against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bègles and Saints.
The prop has won 10 caps for South Africa and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning team over the summer.
Murphy, meanwhile, is eligible to face the Irish rivals in Saturday's domestic clash after being cleared.
