South African Forward Wessels Handed Nine-Match Ban for Inappropriate Contact

South Africa prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for grabbing opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Bulls' United Rugby Championship victory over Connacht.

This event happened in the 18th minute of the narrow victory in Galway on last Friday, with opposing player Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after reacting angrily by hitting the South African on the head area.

Following the Connacht player reported the incident to the match official, the event was examined by the television match official, who concluded insufficient clear footage.

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

While the United Rugby Championship confirmed that Murphy's 20-minute red card was overturned by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was deemed to have breached the code of conduct, which declares:

"Any athlete must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes grabbing, twisting or compressing the private areas."

The panel determined that the contact reached the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the shortest suspension under World Rugby regulations for such an violation.

Nonetheless, the player's suspension was reduced by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.

Wessels and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to appeal, but currently, the ban will rule the young player out of the South African national team's fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, Italy and Ireland.

He will also miss the his club's URC games against Warriors, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup fixtures with Bègles and Northampton.

The prop has earned ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion squad over the summer.

The Connacht player, in contrast, is eligible to face Munster in this weekend's domestic clash after being exonerated.