South African Forward Wessels Receives Nine-Match Suspension for Inappropriate Contact
Wessels will be unavailable for the Springboks' upcoming test matches.
Springbok front-rower Wessels has received a ban of nine games for making contact with opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over Connacht.
The incident happened in the early stages of the close contest against Connacht on Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after responding aggressively by hitting Wessels on the head area.
After the Connacht player complained to the match official, the contact was checked by the television match official, who concluded no conclusive video evidence.
Wessels remained on the field until he was replaced in the second half of the match.
Although the United Rugby Championship announced that the Irish player's 20-minute red card was withdrawn by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was found to have breached law 9.27, which specifies:
"A player must not do anything that is against the principles of fair play. This includes touching, twisting or compressing the private areas."
Disciplinary officials were satisfied that the incident met the red card threshold and warranted a 12-week suspension, the minimum ban under World Rugby regulations for such an infringement.
However, Wessels' suspension was reduced by 21 days because of his good conduct prior to and at the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team have the right to appeal, but as it stands, the ban will rule the 24-year-old out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against the Brave Blossoms, France, the Azzurri and Ireland.
Wessels will additionally be absent for the his club's URC games against Glasgow, the Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bordeaux and Saints.
Wessels has earned ten international appearances for the Springboks and was included in their tri-nations champion team during the recent tournament.
Murphy, in contrast, is available to play against the Irish rivals in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.
