Jan-Hendrick Wessels has been denied appeal after his 9 weeks suspension by the URC. Image by OFM
(The Post News) Springbok and Bulls hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels has lost his appeal to overturn a nine-week suspension for allegedly grabbing the genitals of Connacht flanker Josh Murphy, but the ban has been reduced to eight weeks.
Although the incident was not seen by the match officials and there was no video evidence, the charge was laid by the citing commissioner. Wessels denied the allegation, but the disciplinary panel ruled in Murphy’s favour. Murphy’s own red card for striking Wessels in retaliation was later overturned once Wessels was found guilty.
Wessels appealed the verdict, but an independent appeal committee upheld the finding while noting that the original panel failed to properly consider a mitigating factor in his conduct. As a result, his ban was shortened from nine to eight weeks.
According to RNZ, the URC committee released a statement stating that after reviewing the grounds of appeal and hearing from the player and his club the appeal, they dismissed the substantive grounds of appeal,but reduced the ban by one week.
The revised sanction means Wessels will miss eight matches, including all five Springbok Autumn Internationals against Japan, France, Italy, Ireland, and Wales. The series kicks off this Saturday against Japan at Wembley Stadium, kick-off 6:10 pm. He will be eligible to return on 20 December
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