South African Player Wessels Receives Nine-Match Ban for Genital Grab

South Africa prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels has received a ban of nine games for touching Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over Connacht.

This event happened in the early stages of the narrow victory in Galway on last Friday, with Connacht forward Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after reacting angrily by striking Wessels on the head area.

After Murphy complained to the match official, the contact was reviewed by the TMO, who found insufficient clear footage.

Wessels remained on the pitch until he was replaced in the second half of the game.

Although the URC confirmed that Murphy's temporary sending-off was rescinded by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was found to have violated the code of conduct, which specifies:

"A player should not engage in actions that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes grabbing, pulling or squeezing the private areas."

The panel were satisfied that the event reached the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the shortest ban under World Rugby regulations for such an infringement.

However, the player's suspension was shortened by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior during the hearing and his good record.

The forward and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to appeal, but as it stands, the suspension will prevent the 24-year-old out of the Springboks' fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, the Azzurri and Ireland.

Wessels will additionally be absent for the his club's league matches against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bègles and Northampton.

Wessels has won ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion team over the summer.

Murphy, meanwhile, is eligible to face Munster in Saturday's domestic clash after being exonerated.