Springbok Forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels Given Nine-Game Suspension for Inappropriate Contact

South Africa prop Wessels has received a ban of nine games for touching Josh Murphy's private parts during the Bulls' URC victory over the Irish province.

The altercation occurred in the early stages of the narrow victory against Connacht on Friday, with Connacht forward Josh Murphy being shown a temporary dismissal after striking back by hitting the South African on the head.

After Murphy reported the incident to referee Mike Adamson, the contact was examined by the TMO, who determined no conclusive video evidence.

The Bulls player stayed on the field until he was substituted in the second half of the game.

While the URC confirmed that Murphy's 20-minute red card was withdrawn by a governing body, Wessels was deemed to have violated the code of conduct, which declares:

"A player should not engage in actions that is contrary to the principles of fair play. This includes grabbing, pulling or squeezing the private areas."

The panel were satisfied that the contact met the red card threshold and warranted a 12-week suspension, the minimum ban under World Rugby rules for such an violation.

Nonetheless, the player's ban 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 challenge the decision, but currently, the ban will rule the 24-year-old out of the South African national team's fall internationals against Japan, Les Bleus, the Azzurri and Ireland.

He will also miss the Bulls' URC games against Glasgow, the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks, as well as Investec Champions Cup games with Bordeaux and Saints.

The prop has won ten international appearances for the Springboks and was part of their Rugby Championship-winning team over the summer.

The Connacht player, in contrast, is eligible to play against Munster in Saturday's inter-provincial derby after being cleared.