South African Player Jan-Hendrik Wessels Handed Nine-Game Ban for Genital Grab
Wessels will miss for South Africa's upcoming test matches.
Springbok prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for making contact with opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over Connacht.
The incident happened in the early stages of the narrow victory against Connacht on last Friday, with Connacht forward Murphy receiving a 20-minute red card after striking back by striking Wessels on the head area.
After the Connacht player reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the contact was checked by the TMO, who concluded no definitive proof.
Wessels stayed on the pitch until he was replaced in the later stages of the game.
Although the URC confirmed that Murphy's 20-minute red card was rescinded by a governing body, Wessels was deemed to have breached the code of conduct, which declares:
"Any athlete must not do anything that is contrary to the principles of fair play. This includes touching, twisting or compressing the genitals."
Disciplinary officials were satisfied that the incident reached the red card threshold and warranted a 12-week suspension, the shortest ban under World Rugby regulations for such an offence.
Nonetheless, Wessels' ban was shortened by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team have the right to appeal, but currently, the ban will rule the 24-year-old out of the South African national team's fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, Italy and Ireland.
He will additionally be absent for the his club's league matches against Warriors, the Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bègles and Northampton.
Wessels has won ten international appearances for the Springboks and was included in their tri-nations champion squad during the recent tournament.
The Connacht player, in contrast, is eligible to play against Munster in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.
