Springbok Player Wessels Given Nine-Match Suspension for Genital Grab

South Africa prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels has received a ban of nine games for touching opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Blue Bulls' United Rugby Championship victory over the Irish province.

This event occurred in the 18th minute of the narrow victory against Connacht on Friday, with opposing player Josh Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after reacting angrily by hitting the South African on the head area.

Following the Connacht player reported the incident to the match official, the contact was checked by the TMO, who determined no conclusive video evidence.

Wessels remained on the field until he was substituted in the later stages of the match.

While the United Rugby Championship confirmed that Murphy's temporary sending-off was withdrawn by a governing body, Wessels was found to have violated the code of conduct, which specifies:

"A player must not engage in actions that is contrary to the principles of fair play. Such behavior covers grabbing, twisting or compressing the private areas."

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

However, the player's ban was reduced by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.

Wessels and the Pretoria-based team have the right to appeal, but currently, the suspension will prevent the young player out of the Springboks' fall internationals against the Brave Blossoms, Les Bleus, the Azzurri and Ireland.

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

Wessels has won 10 caps for the Springboks and was included in their tri-nations champion team during the recent tournament.

The Connacht player, meanwhile, is eligible to face the Irish rivals in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.