Crimewatch - stolen Baa-Baas bag

The mystery of exactly what happened to it has been going on for more than a week, since Simpson set off to return home to Worcester from London on the 14:50 from Paddington.

It had gone missing by the time it came for him to get off the Great Western Railway train two-and-a-half hours later at Worcestershire Parkway - and Simpson has since taken to social media in a bid to get this prized possession back.

"I really appreciate all the messages and the tweets," he told BBC Hereford & Worcester. "It's really gone far and wide.

"But I've been in discussion with a few people, who are in direct contact with the British Transport Police, and they are now looking at the CCTV footage."

The England-born South African is particularly proud of the bag he took possession of after his first Barbarians call-up last month - a proud honour for any rugby player.

And the loss of personal contents inside it has hit him.

"It's really for sentimental reasons I wanted to reach out," he said.

"I had some Christmas presents in there, although that's not the end of the world. We're living in tough times, there's a cost of living crisis. And if someone really needed money that badly I could have given them some stuff to help them out.

"But really it's just the sentimental things, like a jumper that was given to me by my grandad.