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

Springbok front-rower Wessels has received a ban of nine games for making contact with Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' URC victory over Connacht.

The incident occurred in the 18th minute of the narrow victory against Connacht on Friday, with Connacht forward Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after striking back by hitting Wessels on the head.

Following the Connacht player complained to referee Mike Adamson, the event was reviewed by the television match official, who concluded no definitive proof.

Wessels remained on the field until he was substituted in the later stages of the match.

While the URC announced that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was rescinded by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was deemed to have violated law 9.27, which specifies:

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

Disciplinary officials were satisfied that the incident met the red card threshold and warranted a 12-week suspension, the minimum ban under international rugby regulations for such an infringement.

However, the player's ban was reduced by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.

The forward and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to appeal, but currently, the suspension will prevent the young player out of the South African national team's fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, the Azzurri and Ireland.

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

Wessels has won 10 caps for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion team during the recent tournament.

Murphy, meanwhile, is available to face the Irish rivals in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.