South African Forward Wessels Handed Nine-Game Suspension for Inappropriate Contact
The player will miss for South Africa's autumn internationals.
Springbok prop Wessels has been suspended of nine matches for grabbing Josh Murphy's private parts during the Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over the Irish province.
The incident happened in the early stages of the narrow victory against Connacht on last Friday, with Connacht forward Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after responding aggressively by hitting the South African on the head.
Following Murphy reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the situation was examined by the television match official, who determined no conclusive video evidence.
Wessels remained on the pitch until he was substituted in the later stages of the game.
While the United Rugby Championship announced that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was rescinded by a governing body, the Springbok was found to have violated the code of conduct, which states:
"A player must not engage in actions that is contrary to the principles of fair play. Such behavior covers touching, twisting or compressing the private areas."
The panel determined that the event reached the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the minimum ban under World Rugby rules for such an infringement.
Nonetheless, the player's suspension was reduced by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
The forward and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to appeal, but currently, the suspension will prevent the young player out of the Springboks' fall internationals against Japan, France, Italy and the Irish team.
He will additionally be absent for the his club's league matches against Warriors, the Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bègles and Saints.
The prop has won ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning team over the summer.
Murphy, in contrast, is eligible to face the Irish rivals in this weekend's domestic clash after being exonerated.
