South African Player Jan-Hendrik Wessels Receives Nine-Match Ban for Inappropriate Contact

South Africa prop Wessels has received a ban of nine games for making contact with Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' URC victory over the Irish province.

This event happened in the early stages of the Bulls' 28-27 win against Connacht on Friday, with opposing player Josh Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after striking back by hitting Wessels on the head.

After the Connacht player complained to the match official, the event was reviewed by the television match official, who concluded no definitive proof.

The Bulls player remained on the pitch until he was substituted in the later stages of the match.

While the URC confirmed that Murphy's 20-minute red card was overturned by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was found to have breached the code of conduct, which states:

"A player should not engage in actions that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes grabbing, pulling or squeezing the genitals."

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

However, the player's ban was shortened by three weeks because of his good conduct during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.

The forward and the Bulls are entitled to appeal, but currently, the suspension will rule the young player out of the Springboks' fall internationals against Japan, France, Italy and Ireland.

Wessels will additionally be absent for the Bulls' league matches against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bègles and Northampton.

The prop has won ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning squad over the summer.

The Connacht player, meanwhile, is available to face the Irish rivals in Saturday's domestic clash after being cleared.