South African Player Wessels Given Nine-Game Ban for Inappropriate Contact
Wessels will be unavailable for South Africa's upcoming test matches.
South Africa front-rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for making contact with Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' URC win over Connacht.
This event happened in the early stages of the close contest against Connacht on last Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy receiving a 20-minute red card after responding aggressively by hitting Wessels on the head area.
Following Murphy reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the situation was checked by the TMO, who found no conclusive video evidence.
Wessels stayed on the pitch until he was replaced in the second half of the game.
While the URC confirmed that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was overturned by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was deemed to have violated law 9.27, which specifies:
"A player must not engage in actions that is contrary to the principles of fair play. Such behavior covers grabbing, twisting or squeezing the genitals."
Disciplinary officials determined that the contact reached the red card threshold and warranted a three-month ban, the shortest ban under World Rugby rules for such an violation.
Nonetheless, the player's ban was shortened by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior during the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but as it stands, the suspension will prevent the young player out of the South African national team's fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, France, the Azzurri and Ireland.
Wessels will also miss the Bulls' league matches against Warriors, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup fixtures with Bordeaux and Northampton.
The prop has won ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning squad during the recent tournament.
The Connacht player, in contrast, is available to face the Irish rivals in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.
