South African Player Wessels Handed Nine-Match Ban for Inappropriate Contact
Wessels will be unavailable for South Africa's fall fixtures.
South Africa prop Wessels has been suspended of nine matches for making contact with Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' URC win over Connacht.
The incident occurred in the early stages of the narrow victory against Connacht on Friday, with opposing player Josh Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after reacting angrily by hitting Wessels on the head.
After the Connacht player complained to the match official, the situation was checked by the TMO, who concluded no definitive proof.
Wessels remained on the pitch until he was replaced in the later stages of the game.
While the United Rugby Championship confirmed that the Irish player's 20-minute red card was overturned by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was found to have violated law 9.27, which specifies:
"A player should not engage in actions that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes touching, twisting or compressing 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 rules for such an offence.
However, Wessels' suspension was shortened by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior during the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but as it stands, the suspension will prevent the young player out of the South African national team's fall internationals against Japan, France, Italy and the Irish team.
Wessels will additionally be absent for the Bulls' URC games against Warriors, the Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup fixtures with Bègles and Northampton.
The prop has earned 10 caps for South Africa and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning team during the recent tournament.
The Connacht player, in contrast, is available to play against the Irish rivals in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.
