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

South Africa prop Wessels has been suspended of nine games for touching opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Blue Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.

This event happened in the early stages of the narrow victory in Galway on last Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy being shown a 20-minute red card after striking back by striking Wessels on the head area.

Following the Connacht player reported the incident to the match official, the situation was examined by the television match official, who found insufficient clear footage.

The Bulls player stayed on the field until he was substituted in the second half of the game.

While the URC confirmed that Murphy's 20-minute red card was overturned by a governing body, the Springbok was found to have breached the code of conduct, which specifies:

"A player must not engage in actions that is contrary to the principles of fair play. This includes touching, pulling or squeezing the private areas."

The panel concluded that the contact reached the red card threshold and warranted a 12-week suspension, the shortest suspension under international rugby regulations for such an violation.

However, the player's ban was shortened by three weeks because of his good conduct prior to and at the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.

The forward and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to challenge the decision, but currently, the ban will rule the 24-year-old out of the Springboks' autumn Tests against Japan, France, the Azzurri and Ireland.

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

The prop has won ten international appearances for South Africa and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning team over the summer.

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