South African Forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels Handed Nine-Match Ban for Inappropriate Contact
The player will be unavailable for the Springboks' autumn internationals.
Springbok prop Wessels has been suspended of nine games for touching opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Blue Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over the Irish province.
This event occurred in the early stages of the narrow victory in Galway on Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after striking back by hitting the South African on the head area.
After the Connacht player reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the situation was reviewed by the TMO, who found no definitive proof.
The Bulls player stayed on the field until he was replaced in the later stages of the match.
While the United Rugby Championship announced that the Irish player's temporary sending-off was overturned by a governing body, Wessels was deemed to have violated the code of conduct, which specifies:
"Any athlete must not engage in actions that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. Such behavior covers grabbing, twisting or compressing the private areas."
The panel determined that the event met the red card threshold and justified a three-month ban, the shortest suspension under international rugby rules for such an violation.
Nonetheless, Wessels' suspension was shortened by 21 days because of his good conduct during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Pretoria-based team have the right to appeal, but as it stands, the ban will prevent the 24-year-old out of the Springboks' fall internationals against Japan, Les Bleus, Italy 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 fixtures with Bordeaux and Northampton.
The prop has won ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning squad during the recent tournament.
Murphy, meanwhile, is eligible to play against the Irish rivals in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being exonerated.