Springbok Player Wessels Handed Nine-Game Suspension for Inappropriate Contact
Wessels will be unavailable for South Africa's upcoming test matches.
Springbok front-rower Wessels has been suspended of nine games for making contact with opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' URC win over Connacht.
The incident took place in the 18th minute of the narrow victory in Galway on last Friday, with opposing player Murphy receiving a 20-minute red card after responding aggressively by striking the South African on the head.
Following Murphy reported the incident to the match official, the contact was checked by the TMO, who found insufficient clear footage.
Wessels stayed on the pitch until he was replaced in the later stages of the match.
While the URC announced that Murphy's temporary sending-off was overturned by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was found to have breached the code of conduct, which specifies:
"A player must not engage in actions that is contrary to the principles of fair play. This includes grabbing, twisting or squeezing the private areas."
Disciplinary officials concluded that the event reached the level for dismissal and justified a three-month ban, the minimum ban under international rugby rules for such an offence.
Nonetheless, the player's suspension was reduced by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior during the proceedings and his good record.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but currently, the suspension will rule the young player out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, the Azzurri and Ireland.
Wessels will additionally be absent for the his club's league matches against Warriors, the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bègles and Northampton.
The prop has earned ten international appearances for South Africa and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning squad during the recent tournament.
Murphy, meanwhile, is available to play against Munster in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being exonerated.
