Bulls coach Ackermann: There was no new evidence at the Jan-Hendrik Wessels hearing

The controversy over the nine-week ban given to Bulls forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels has deepened, with his coach, Johan Ackermann confirming to the media that no fresh evidence was made available to the disciplinary hearing that condemned Wessels.

The United Rugby Cgampionship hearing said that Wessels was guilty of grabbing Connacht flank Josh Murphy’s genitals during the Bulls’ 28-27 win in Galway. At the time of the incident, the 18th minute of the game, the TMO could find no evidence of wrongdoing after several television replays.

“There was no other footage that I was aware of that brought a different view,” Ackermann said, on Saturday.

“The facts in the hearing were the facts they made the decision on. I’m not going to say too much because the appeal is in, so now we are just waiting for a date.”

Ackermann was speaking the day after his team lost 21-12 to the Warriors. It was a game the Bulls would have won but for a 14-point turnaround towards the end. Kurt-Lee Arendse had a try disallowed because a knock had been spotted in the build-up up, while the Warriors were awarded a penalty try after the referee adjudged that the Bulls had pulled down a maul.

“The big swing in the game was the penalty try,” Ackermann said.

“We’ll get some clarification on that because we’ve looked and re-looked at the footage we’ve got. I begged captain Ruan (Nortje) to ask the referee, but obviously, they only seem to go back when it’s knocks and not when it’s big decisions like that.

“The only guys off their feet were Glasgow. Francois Klopper (who was yellow-carded) is standing right in the middle and is on his feet, so to make a big call like that without referring it, without being certain, just flabbergasts me. In this modern game, we have the technology, but we’re willing to make spur-of-the-moment calls like that.”

Ackermann was pleased that his team’s defence improved considerably — in their previous four matches, the Bulls had leaked 18 tries.

“I’m very pleased with the step-up in our defence,” he said.

“That shows me when we get that part right and we get our possession and territory right, and sort out some things on attack, there’s a lot of good things to come. I was really proud of the guys.”

Ackermann admitted, though, that game management let them down at critical stages.

“There’s a time to kick out, there’s a time to kick long, and there’s a time to keep the ball and build a bit of pressure. We don’t get the balance right all the time. We also played the ball out the back when we maybe should’ve carried.”

The Bulls’ next game is against the Lions in Pretoria on November 29.