South African Player Jan-Hendrik Wessels Handed Nine-Game Suspension for Inappropriate Contact
The player will miss for South Africa's upcoming test matches.
South Africa prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels faces a suspension of nine matches for making contact with opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.
This event happened in the early stages of the narrow victory against Connacht on Friday, with Connacht forward Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after striking back by striking the South African on the head.
After Murphy reported the incident to the match official, the contact was examined by the television match official, who found insufficient clear footage.
Wessels stayed on the field until he was substituted in the later stages of the match.
While the United Rugby Championship announced that the Irish player's 20-minute red card was overturned by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was deemed to have breached the code of conduct, which states:
"A player must not do anything that is against the principles of fair play. This includes touching, twisting or squeezing the genitals."
Disciplinary officials concluded that the event reached the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the minimum ban under World Rugby rules for such an infringement.
Nonetheless, the player's ban was shortened by three weeks because of his good conduct during the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.
The forward and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but as it stands, the suspension will prevent the 24-year-old out of the Springboks' autumn Tests against Japan, Les Bleus, Italy and the Irish team.
He will additionally be absent for the Bulls' league matches against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup fixtures with Bègles and Saints.
The prop has won 10 caps for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion team during the recent tournament.
Murphy, meanwhile, is eligible to play against the Irish rivals in Saturday's domestic clash after being cleared.
