South African Forward Wessels Receives Nine-Game Ban for Inappropriate Contact

Springbok prop Wessels has received a ban of nine games for touching opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.

This event happened in the 18th minute of the close contest against Connacht on Friday, with Connacht forward Murphy receiving a 20-minute red card after striking back by hitting the South African on the head.

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

The Bulls player stayed on the field until he was replaced in the second half of the match.

While the URC announced that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was withdrawn by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was deemed to have breached law 9.27, which declares:

"A player must not do anything that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. Such behavior covers grabbing, pulling or compressing the private areas."

The panel concluded that the incident met the red card threshold and warranted a three-month ban, the shortest ban under international rugby rules for such an offence.

However, Wessels' ban was shortened by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior during the proceedings and his good record.

Wessels and the Bulls are entitled to appeal, but currently, the ban will rule the young player out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against Japan, France, the Azzurri and the Irish team.

He will also miss the his club's league matches against Warriors, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bègles and Saints.

The prop has won 10 caps for the Springboks and was part of their tri-nations champion squad during the recent tournament.

The Connacht player, meanwhile, is available to play against Munster in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being exonerated.