South African Forward Wessels Given Nine-Game Ban for Inappropriate Contact

South Africa front-rower Wessels has been suspended of nine games for grabbing opponent Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' URC win over the Irish province.

The altercation happened in the 18th minute of the close contest in Galway on Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after striking back by hitting Wessels on the head.

After the Connacht player complained to referee Mike Adamson, the event was checked by the TMO, who determined insufficient clear footage.

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

While the URC confirmed that Murphy's temporary sending-off was overturned by a disciplinary panel, the Springbok was found to have violated law 9.27, which specifies:

"A player should not do anything that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes touching, pulling or compressing the genitals."

Disciplinary officials were satisfied that the event met the red card threshold and justified a 12-week suspension, the minimum ban under international rugby rules for such an infringement.

Nonetheless, Wessels' ban was reduced by three weeks because of his good conduct during the proceedings and his clean disciplinary history.

The forward and the Bulls are entitled to appeal, but as it stands, the ban will rule the young player out of the Springboks' fall internationals against Japan, Les Bleus, the Azzurri and Ireland.

He will additionally be absent for the Bulls' league matches against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup fixtures with Bègles and Northampton.

The prop has won 10 caps for the Springboks and was included in their Rugby Championship-winning team during the recent tournament.

Murphy, in contrast, is available to face the Irish rivals in this weekend's domestic clash after being cleared.