South African Player Wessels Receives Nine-Match Suspension for Genital Grab

South Africa prop Wessels has been suspended of nine games for making contact with opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' URC win over Connacht.

This event occurred in the 18th minute of the Bulls' 28-27 win in Galway on Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after responding aggressively by striking the South African on the head.

After Murphy reported the incident to the match official, the contact was reviewed by the television match official, who concluded insufficient clear footage.

The Bulls player remained on the field until he was substituted in the later stages of the game.

Although the URC announced that the Irish player's 20-minute red card was withdrawn by a governing body, the Springbok was deemed to have breached the code of conduct, which declares:

"Any athlete should not engage in actions that is contrary to the principles of fair play. This includes grabbing, pulling or squeezing the genitals."

The panel concluded that the contact reached the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the shortest suspension under World Rugby rules for such an offence.

However, the player's suspension was shortened by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.

Wessels and the Bulls have the right to appeal, but currently, the ban will rule the 24-year-old out of the South African national team's fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, Italy and Ireland.

He will additionally be absent for the Bulls' URC games against Warriors, the Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bordeaux and Saints.

The prop has earned 10 caps for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion team over the summer.

Murphy, meanwhile, is available to face Munster in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being exonerated.