Springbok Player Jan-Hendrik Wessels Receives Nine-Match Ban for Genital Grab

Springbok front-rower Wessels has received a ban of nine games for making contact with Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' URC win over Connacht.

The altercation took place in the early stages of the narrow victory in Galway on last Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy receiving a 20-minute red card after reacting angrily by striking the South African on the head area.

After Murphy complained to the match official, the situation was checked by the television match official, who determined no definitive proof.

Wessels stayed on the pitch until he was replaced in the later stages of the game.

While the URC confirmed that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was rescinded by a governing body, Wessels was found to have breached law 9.27, which specifies:

"A player should not do anything that is against the principles of fair play. Such behavior covers grabbing, twisting or squeezing the genitals."

The panel were satisfied that the incident met the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the minimum ban under World Rugby regulations for such an violation.

Nonetheless, Wessels' ban was reduced by three weeks because of his good conduct during the hearing and his good record.

Wessels and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to appeal, but currently, the ban will prevent the young player out of the Springboks' fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, Italy and the Irish team.

Wessels will additionally be absent for the Bulls' URC games against Warriors, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bègles and Saints.

Wessels has won ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion team over the summer.

Murphy, in contrast, is available to face Munster in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.