Springbok Forward Wessels Given Nine-Game Suspension for Inappropriate Contact

South Africa prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels has received a ban of nine games for grabbing Josh Murphy's private parts during the Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over Connacht.

The incident happened in the early stages of the close contest against Connacht on last Friday, with Connacht forward Murphy receiving a temporary dismissal after responding aggressively by striking the South African on the head area.

Following Murphy reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the event was reviewed by the television match official, who found no conclusive video evidence.

Wessels stayed on the pitch until he was substituted in the later stages of the match.

Although the URC announced that Murphy's temporary sending-off was overturned by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was deemed to have violated the code of conduct, which states:

"Any athlete must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes touching, pulling or compressing the private areas."

Disciplinary officials determined that the incident met the level for dismissal and justified a three-month ban, the shortest ban under international rugby regulations for such an infringement.

However, the player's ban was shortened by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior during the hearing and his clean disciplinary history.

The forward and the Pretoria-based team are entitled to appeal, but currently, the suspension will rule the 24-year-old out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against Japan, Les Bleus, Italy and the Irish team.

He will also miss the Bulls' URC games against Warriors, the Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup fixtures with Bègles and Saints.

The prop has earned ten international appearances for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion squad over the summer.

The Connacht player, in contrast, is available to face Munster in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.