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

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

The incident occurred in the early stages of the narrow victory in Galway on Friday, with Connacht forward Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after responding aggressively by striking Wessels on the head area.

Following the Connacht player complained to referee Mike Adamson, the situation was checked by the TMO, who found no definitive proof.

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

Although the United Rugby Championship announced that the Irish player's 20-minute red card was withdrawn by a governing body, Wessels was deemed to have violated law 9.27, which specifies:

"Any athlete should not engage in actions that is contrary to the principles of fair play. This includes grabbing, twisting or compressing the genitals."

The panel determined that the contact reached the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the shortest suspension under international rugby rules for such an violation.

Nonetheless, the player's suspension was reduced by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior during the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.

The forward and the Bulls have the right to challenge the decision, but currently, the ban will rule the young player out of the Springboks' autumn Tests against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, the Azzurri and the Irish team.

Wessels will also miss the Bulls' URC games against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bordeaux and Northampton.

Wessels has won ten international appearances for the Springboks and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning team over the summer.

The Connacht player, in contrast, is eligible to play against the Irish rivals in this weekend's domestic clash after being cleared.