South African Player Jan-Hendrik Wessels Receives Nine-Match Ban for Inappropriate Contact
The player is ruled out for the Springboks' fall fixtures.
South Africa front-rower Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for touching opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Blue Bulls' United Rugby Championship victory over the Irish province.
The altercation happened in the early stages of the narrow victory in Galway on Friday, with opposing player Josh Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after reacting angrily by hitting Wessels on the head.
Following the Connacht player reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the contact was examined by the television match official, who concluded no definitive proof.
Wessels remained on the field until he was substituted in the second half of the game.
Although the United Rugby Championship announced that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was withdrawn by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was deemed to have violated the code of conduct, which states:
"Any athlete must not do anything that is contrary to the principles of fair play. This includes touching, pulling or compressing the genitals."
The panel were satisfied that the event reached the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the minimum ban under international rugby regulations for such an violation.
Nonetheless, Wessels' ban was reduced by 21 days because of his good conduct during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
The forward and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to appeal, but currently, the suspension will rule the young player out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against Japan, France, Italy and Ireland.
Wessels will additionally be absent for the his club's league matches against Warriors, the Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup fixtures with Bègles and Saints.
The prop has earned 10 caps for South Africa and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning team over the summer.
Murphy, meanwhile, is available to play against Munster in this weekend's domestic clash after being cleared.
