South African Forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels Receives Nine-Match Ban for Genital Grab
The player will miss for South Africa's fall fixtures.
South Africa prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for grabbing opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Blue Bulls' United Rugby Championship victory over Connacht.
The incident occurred in the early stages of the narrow victory in Galway on Friday, with opposing player Josh Murphy receiving a 20-minute red card after reacting angrily by hitting Wessels on the head area.
Following Murphy complained to referee Mike Adamson, the situation was checked by the television match official, who concluded insufficient clear footage.
Wessels stayed on the pitch until he was replaced in the second half of the match.
While the United Rugby Championship announced that Murphy's 20-minute red card was overturned by a governing body, Wessels was deemed to have violated law 9.27, which declares:
"A player must not engage in actions that is contrary to the principles of fair play. This includes touching, twisting or squeezing the genitals."
The panel determined that the event met the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the shortest suspension under international rugby rules for such an infringement.
Nonetheless, the player's suspension was shortened by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
The forward and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but as it stands, the ban will rule the young player out of the Springboks' autumn Tests against the Brave Blossoms, France, Italy and the Irish team.
He 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 Bordeaux and Northampton.
The prop has earned ten international appearances for the Springboks and was included in their tri-nations champion squad over the summer.
The Connacht player, in contrast, is available to face the Irish rivals in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being exonerated.
