South African Forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels Handed Nine-Match Ban for Inappropriate Contact

South Africa front-rower Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for grabbing opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.

The incident occurred in the early stages of the close contest against Connacht on Friday, with opposing player Josh Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after striking back by hitting Wessels on the head area.

Following the Connacht player complained to the match official, the contact was checked by the television match official, who found no conclusive video evidence.

Wessels remained on the field until he was replaced in the second half of the match.

Although the URC announced that Murphy's temporary sending-off was withdrawn by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was deemed to have breached law 9.27, which states:

"A player should not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes grabbing, twisting or compressing the private areas."

The panel concluded that the contact reached the red card threshold and justified a 12-week suspension, the shortest ban under World Rugby regulations for such an violation.

Nonetheless, the player's suspension was shortened by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.

Wessels and the Bulls are entitled to challenge the decision, but as it stands, the ban will rule the young player out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against the Brave Blossoms, France, the Azzurri 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 Bordeaux and Northampton.

The prop has won 10 caps for the Springboks and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning squad during the recent tournament.

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