A Stormers coach had his laptop and wallet stolen at the team’s hotel in Paris ahead of their Investec Champions Cup clash against Racing 92.
According to a report by Rugby 365, some of the Stormers’ members were still present in the team room when the incident occurred.
Stormers robbed in Paris
The report adds that the ‘brazen thief’ was initially thought to be a lost guest looking for another conference room and that another Stormers‘ staff member had taken the backpack mistakenly.
However, that was not the case as confirmed by security footage with Paris police now investigating the theft.
The incident occurred in the build-up to the Stormers’ crunch clash against Racing 92 with John Dobson’s side having their work cut out for them at the stunning La Defense Arena.
The Capetonians enter the final round of the Champions Cup pool stages with confidence after banking their first victory in style with a comprehensive 40-0 win against the Sale Sharks last weekend but they require a victory to qualify for the knockout stages.
“We are playing on an artificial pitch under a closed roof in the European winter, which is quite a change from the summer conditions we enjoyed at home last week,” Dobson said ahead of the clash.
“We’ve got some exciting players coming into the mix this week and we are looking forward to seeing what sort of impact they make.”
“We’ll definitely be going for it”
The Stormers will fancy their chances against the Parisian club, particularly with Evan Roos and Joseph Dweba featuring in the starting XV.
However, Racing 92 have welcomed the return of ex-England captain Owen Farrell who has been sidelined for the past two months through injury.
“There’s not one game we won’t [give our all in]. We’ll definitely be going for it, no question. Either playing for a place in the Challenge Cup or a place in the last 16,” Dobson added.
“We pride ourselves on making the playoffs in every competition we’ve been in, and we’ll be absolutely determined to keep that record intact.”
Earlier this week, the Stormers announced the signing of Springboks scrum-half Cobus Reinach who will join the club from French club Montpellier.
Reinach will join the side who are set to lose fellow Bok Herschel Jantjies who is set to join Top 14 team Bayonne while scrum-half Paul de Wet is trading Cape Town for Pretoria to sign for the Bulls.
READ MORE: Springboks star’s ‘return home’ finally confirmed as Stormers fill scrum-half void
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/stormers-robbed-by-brazen-thief-in-paris-ahead-of-racing-92-clash
