South African Player Wessels Receives Nine-Match Suspension for Genital Grab
Wessels is ruled out for South Africa's autumn internationals.
South Africa front-rower Wessels faces a suspension of nine matches for making contact with opponent Josh Murphy's private parts during the Blue Bulls' United Rugby Championship victory over Connacht.
The incident happened in the early stages of the Bulls' 28-27 win against Connacht on last Friday, with opposing player Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after responding aggressively by striking Wessels on the head area.
Following Murphy reported the incident to the match official, the contact was checked by the television match official, who determined no conclusive video evidence.
The Bulls player remained on the field until he was replaced in the later stages of the match.
Although the URC confirmed that Murphy's 20-minute red card was overturned by a disciplinary panel, Wessels was deemed to have breached the code of conduct, which specifies:
"Any athlete should not do anything that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. Such behavior covers touching, twisting or squeezing the genitals."
Disciplinary officials concluded that the contact reached the red card threshold and warranted a 12-week suspension, the minimum suspension under international rugby rules for such an infringement.
Nonetheless, the player's suspension was reduced by three weeks because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.
Wessels and the Bulls have the right to appeal, but as it stands, the suspension will prevent the young player out of the South African national team's autumn Tests against Japan, France, Italy and the Irish team.
Wessels will also miss the Bulls' league matches against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as European cup games with Bordeaux and Saints.
The prop has earned ten international appearances for the Springboks and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning team during the recent tournament.
The Connacht player, meanwhile, is available to face the Irish rivals in this weekend's inter-provincial derby after being exonerated.
