South African Forward Wessels Handed Nine-Match Ban for Genital Grab

South Africa front-rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been suspended of nine games for touching opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over Connacht.

This event happened in the early stages of the narrow victory in Galway on last Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after reacting angrily by hitting Wessels on the head area.

After the Connacht player reported the incident to the match official, the contact was checked by the TMO, who found no conclusive video evidence.

The Bulls player stayed on the field until he was replaced in the later stages of the match.

Although the United Rugby Championship announced that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was rescinded by a governing body, the Springbok was found to have violated law 9.27, which declares:

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

Disciplinary officials concluded that the incident reached the level for dismissal and warranted a 12-week suspension, the minimum ban under international rugby regulations for such an infringement.

However, Wessels' ban was reduced by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.

Wessels and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to appeal, but as it stands, the suspension will rule the young player out of the Springboks' autumn Tests against Japan, Les Bleus, Italy and the Irish team.

Wessels will additionally be absent for the his club's URC games against Warriors, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bordeaux and Northampton.

Wessels has won 10 caps for the Springboks and was part of their tri-nations champion team over the summer.

The Connacht player, in contrast, is available to play against Munster in Saturday's domestic clash after being exonerated.