Springbok Forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels Receives Nine-Match Suspension for Genital Grab

South Africa prop Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for touching Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' URC win over Connacht.

The incident took place in the early stages of the close contest against Connacht on Friday, with opposing player Murphy receiving a 20-minute red card after striking back by hitting the South African on the head area.

After Murphy reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the contact was examined by the television match official, who found no definitive proof.

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

While the United Rugby Championship announced that the Irish player's 20-minute red card was overturned by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was found to have breached law 9.27, which specifies:

"Any athlete should not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes touching, pulling or compressing the genitals."

Disciplinary officials concluded that the event met the level for dismissal and justified a three-month ban, the shortest suspension under World Rugby rules for such an infringement.

However, the player's ban was reduced by three weeks because of his good conduct during the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.

The forward and the Bulls have the right to challenge the decision, but currently, the suspension will rule the 24-year-old out of the South African national team's fall internationals against Japan, Les Bleus, Italy and Ireland.

He 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 Northampton.

Wessels has earned ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning team during the recent tournament.

The Connacht player, in contrast, is eligible to face Munster in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.