South African Player Wessels Receives Nine-Match Ban for Inappropriate Contact
The player is ruled out for the Springboks' fall fixtures.
South Africa prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been suspended of nine matches for touching opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Blue Bulls' United Rugby Championship victory over Connacht.
The altercation occurred in the 18th minute of the narrow victory against Connacht on last Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after reacting angrily by hitting the South African on the head area.
After Murphy reported the incident to the match official, the situation was checked by the television match official, who found no definitive proof.
Wessels stayed on the field until he was substituted in the later stages of the game.
Although the United Rugby Championship confirmed that Murphy's 20-minute red card was rescinded by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was found to have violated the code of conduct, which declares:
"A player must not do anything that is contrary to the principles of fair play. Such behavior covers touching, twisting or compressing the private areas."
The panel concluded that the contact met the red card threshold and justified a 12-week suspension, the minimum ban under World Rugby regulations for such an infringement.
Nonetheless, Wessels' ban was reduced by three weeks because of his good conduct during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team have the right to challenge the decision, but currently, the ban will prevent the young player out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against Japan, Les Bleus, Italy and the Irish team.
Wessels will also miss the Bulls' URC games against Glasgow, the Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as European cup fixtures with Bordeaux and Northampton.
The prop has won ten international appearances for the Springboks and was included in their tri-nations champion squad during the recent tournament.
Murphy, in contrast, is eligible to face Munster in Saturday's domestic clash after being exonerated.
