Burglars have broken into South Africa Rugby Union’s headquarters, where CCTV footage shows them touching the World Cup trophy before walking away.
The burglary took place on Monday at an office park in Cape Town’s northern suburbs.
They leave the trophy behind and instead steal whisky, five signed Springbok jerseys and eight laptops.
The video shows men entering a room where the replica of the William Webb Ellis trophy is stored.
In footage which has been shared on X by South African journalist Yusuf Abramjee, one of the burglars puts his gloved hand on the trophy, lifting it slightly, before moving to the cupboards beneath it.
Here is footage of the burglary. https://t.co/6aOLd4VwHx pic.twitter.com/XjDADMTcfL
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) November 14, 2023
A South Africa Rugby Union spokesperson told the BBC that all its trophies were safe.
South Africa won the Rugby World Cup on 28 October after beating New Zealand in Paris and becoming the first nation to win the tournament four times.
The country celebrated the win with a four-day victory tour, where the team travelled to parades across South Africa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, also declared 15 December as a public holiday to mark the success “in celebration of the Springboks’ momentous achievement”.
The break-in happened at around 22:00 local time (22:00 GMT) and Western Cape police were told of concerns that the trophy had been stolen.
The police recorded two cases of business burglary after two incidents at the Tygerberg Office Park in Plattekloof.
According to local media, police said that two well-dressed men entered the business park in a white Toyota Corolla.
They then forced open a window on the ground floor to gain entry to the building and began searching for items.
Local media also reported that 60 laptops were taken from another company in the same park.
