Springbok Player Wessels Receives Nine-Game Suspension for Genital Grab
Wessels will be unavailable for South Africa's fall fixtures.
South Africa front-rower Wessels faces a suspension of nine matches for grabbing opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.
The incident occurred in the 18th minute of the close contest against Connacht on Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after reacting angrily by hitting Wessels on the head area.
After Murphy reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the event was reviewed by the television match official, who determined no conclusive video evidence.
The Bulls player remained on the pitch until he was replaced in the later stages of the match.
Although the United Rugby Championship confirmed that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was withdrawn by a governing body, Wessels was deemed to have violated the code of conduct, which specifies:
"A player must not do anything that is against the principles of fair play. Such behavior covers touching, pulling or squeezing the private areas."
The panel determined that the incident reached the level for dismissal and justified a 12-week suspension, the shortest suspension under World Rugby regulations for such an violation.
Nonetheless, Wessels' suspension was shortened by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
The forward and the Bulls have the right to appeal, but as it stands, the ban will rule the young player out of the South African national team's fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, the Azzurri and Ireland.
He will additionally be absent for the his club's league matches against Warriors, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup fixtures with Bègles and Northampton.
Wessels has won 10 caps for the Springboks and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning team over the summer.
The Connacht player, in contrast, is available to face Munster in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being exonerated.
