Springbok Player Jan-Hendrik Wessels Receives Nine-Match Suspension for Genital Grab

Springbok front-rower Wessels faces a suspension of nine matches for making contact with Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' URC win over Connacht.

The incident occurred in the early stages of the Bulls' 28-27 win in Galway on last Friday, with opposing player Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after responding aggressively by hitting Wessels on the head.

After Murphy reported the incident to the match official, the contact was reviewed by the television match official, who concluded no conclusive video evidence.

The Bulls player stayed on the pitch until he was substituted in the later stages of the match.

While the URC confirmed that Murphy's 20-minute red card was rescinded by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was found to have violated law 9.27, which specifies:

"Any athlete should not engage in actions that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. Such behavior covers touching, pulling or compressing the genitals."

The panel were satisfied that the incident met the red card threshold and justified a 12-week suspension, the shortest suspension under international rugby regulations for such an offence.

However, Wessels' ban was reduced by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior during the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.

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

Wessels will also miss the his club's URC games against Glasgow, the Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup fixtures with Bègles and Northampton.

Wessels has earned 10 caps for South Africa and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning team over the summer.

Murphy, in contrast, is available to play against Munster in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being exonerated.