South African Player Wessels Receives Nine-Match Suspension for Inappropriate Contact

Springbok prop Wessels has received a ban of nine matches for grabbing opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.

The altercation took place in the early stages of the close contest against Connacht on last Friday, with Connacht forward Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after reacting angrily by hitting the South African on the head.

After the Connacht player reported the incident to the match official, the situation was checked by the television match official, who determined no definitive proof.

Wessels stayed on the field until he was substituted in the second half of the match.

While the URC confirmed that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was withdrawn by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was found to have breached law 9.27, which declares:

"Any athlete must not do anything that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. Such behavior covers touching, pulling or compressing the genitals."

The panel determined that the incident reached the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the minimum ban under World Rugby rules for such an infringement.

However, the player's ban was reduced by 21 days because of his good conduct during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.

The forward and the Pretoria-based team have the right to challenge the decision, but as it stands, the suspension will rule the 24-year-old out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against Japan, Les Bleus, Italy and Ireland.

Wessels will additionally be absent for the his club's URC games against Glasgow, the Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup fixtures with Bordeaux and Northampton.

The prop has earned 10 caps for South Africa and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning team over the summer.

Murphy, meanwhile, is available to play against the Irish rivals in this weekend's domestic clash after being cleared.