Springbok Player Wessels Receives Nine-Game Suspension for Genital Grab

South Africa prop Wessels faces a suspension of nine games for grabbing Josh Murphy's genitals during the Bulls' United Rugby Championship win over Connacht.

The incident occurred in the early stages of the narrow victory against Connacht on last Friday, with opposing player Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after reacting angrily by striking Wessels on the head area.

After the Connacht player complained to the match official, the situation was checked by the TMO, who concluded insufficient clear footage.

The Bulls player stayed on the pitch until he was substituted in the second half of the match.

Although the URC confirmed that Murphy's temporary sending-off was overturned by a governing body, the Springbok was deemed to have breached the code of conduct, which specifies:

"A player must not engage in actions that is contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship. This includes touching, twisting or compressing the genitals."

Disciplinary officials concluded that the incident met the red card threshold and warranted a three-month ban, the minimum ban under World Rugby rules for such an violation.

Nonetheless, Wessels' suspension was shortened by 21 days because of his cooperative behavior prior to and at the proceedings and his good record.

Wessels and the Bulls are entitled to challenge the decision, but as it stands, the suspension will rule the 24-year-old out of the Springboks' autumn Tests against Japan, France, Italy and Ireland.

He will additionally be absent for the his club's URC games against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Sharks, as well as European cup fixtures with Bordeaux and Saints.

The prop has earned 10 caps for South Africa and was part of their tri-nations champion team over the summer.

The Connacht player, meanwhile, is available to face the Irish rivals in Saturday's domestic clash after being cleared.