George - The Springbok Sevens tough week in George was dealt another body blow Friday night when they became the victims of a theft at their hotel.
After a week where their preparations in defence of their IRB Sevens World Series crown and Emirates Airlines George Sevens title were disrupted by a plane crash, disciplinary problems and injury, the latest news will come as a blow to the team who face a tough quarter-final against Fiji on Saturday afternoon.
The robbery - where the laptop of the team's Sport Scientist Ross Tucker was stolen from his room while the Boks were on the field at Outeniqua Park facing their final pool game against Fiji - has been reported to the hotel and the police.
Tucker and team manager Sebastian Primm returned to the King George Protea Hotel, where the teams are staying, to do some analysis on the way the Springboks had played in their earlier pool games. They left the laptop in the room when they returned to the ground - about 1km away - for their final matches of day one of the George Sevens.
When they returned, Tucker's laptop had been stolen, but another laptop in the room was still there. Hotel staff were immediately alerted and did a search for the laptop, but to no avail.
The theft is the latest setback to hit the defending World Series champions in their home tournament where the pressure of local expectation is already high.
Earlier in the week the Boks lost veteran Neil Powell to injury, while their young Blue Bulls under-21 winger Deon Helberg was shaken up after being on an SA Airlink flight that skidded off the runway in foul weather and landed on a road outside the airport.
While Helberg was not injured, the Blitsboks called in lifeskills coach Gavin Swanepoel to help the team deal with Helberg's ordeal.
Then a day before the tournament, key player Rayno Benjamin was booted from the squad for disciplinary reasons after "a series of incidents" that forced coach Paul Treu to make the decision.
SA Rugby finally revealed the reasons behind Benjamin's disciplinary indiscretions on Friday night, where he had overstepped the team's code of conduct.
“He used foul language against me and at some members of the management team and the senior players heard it,” said Treu.
“This is something we as a team have addressed and the important thing now is for us a team to move forward. This why we have some here like Gavin Swanepoel (Life coach), who is with the squad to assist with any situation like this. If there are any players who need assistance and help, we have the people here to assist our players.”
Treu also lost his captain Paul Delport on Friday during the team's 29-5 win over Zimbabwe. Delport, who has had a run of bad luck during his career with injuries, injured ligaments in his ankle and is unlikely to play again in the tournament.
Speedster MJ Mentz is still sitting with a badly swollen eye after scoring a try in the same game, where he was clipped by the boot of a Zimbabwean defender. Treu is hopeful he will be able to play in the playoff rounds on Saturday.
http://www.sport24.co.za/Content/Ru...ab7a4/12-12-2009-10-38/Bok_Sevens_team_robbed
