South African Forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels Handed Nine-Match Ban for Genital Grab
The player will be unavailable for South Africa's upcoming test matches.
Springbok front-rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for touching opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.
This event took place in the early stages of the close contest in Galway on last Friday, with Connacht forward Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after striking back by striking Wessels on the head.
Following Murphy reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the event was reviewed by the TMO, who found no conclusive video evidence.
The Bulls player stayed on the field until he was replaced in the second half of the game.
Although the United Rugby Championship confirmed that Murphy's 20-minute red card was overturned by a governing body, the Springbok was found to have violated law 9.27, which states:
"Any athlete should not do anything that is contrary to the principles of fair play. Such behavior covers touching, pulling or compressing the genitals."
The panel concluded that the contact met the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the minimum ban under international rugby rules for such an infringement.
However, the player's ban was shortened by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but as it stands, the suspension will rule the young player out of the Springboks' autumn Tests against the Brave Blossoms, France, the Azzurri and the Irish team.
He will also miss the Bulls' URC games against Warriors, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bordeaux and Northampton.
Wessels has earned ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion squad during the recent tournament.
Murphy, in contrast, is eligible to play against Munster in this weekend's domestic clash after being exonerated.
