Springbok Forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels Receives Nine-Match Suspension for Genital Grab

Springbok prop Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for touching Josh Murphy's private parts during the Bulls' URC victory over the Irish province.

The incident happened in the early stages of the narrow victory against Connacht on last Friday, with opposing player Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after reacting angrily by hitting Wessels on the head area.

After Murphy complained to the match official, the contact was reviewed by the television match official, who determined insufficient clear footage.

Wessels remained on the field until he was replaced in the second half of the game.

Although the URC announced that the Irish player's 20-minute red card was overturned by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was found to have breached law 9.27, which specifies:

"Any athlete must not engage in actions that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. Such behavior covers touching, twisting or squeezing the genitals."

The panel determined that the incident met the red card threshold and warranted a 12-week suspension, the shortest ban under World Rugby regulations for such an offence.

However, Wessels' ban was reduced by 21 days because of his good conduct prior to and at the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.

The forward and the Pretoria-based team have the right to challenge the decision, but as it stands, the ban will rule the young player out of the Springboks' autumn Tests against Japan, France, Italy and Ireland.

He will additionally be absent for the his club's league matches against Glasgow, the Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bordeaux and Northampton.

Wessels has won 10 caps for South Africa and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning team over the summer.

Murphy, in contrast, is available to face the Irish rivals in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being exonerated.