Rocky Elsom, the former captain of the Wallabies, was sentenced to two years in prison by a French court on Friday after being found guilty of misappropriating corporate funds during his tenure as president of the Narbonne rugby club.
In addition to his prison sentence, he was slapped with a fine of 109,000 AUD, half of which has been suspended.
The 42-year-old Elsom was absent from the court proceedings, and his current location is unknown, prompting a French arrest warrant to be issued for him.
Rocky Elsom represents the Wallabies. Getty
Between 2005 and 2011, Elsom earned 75 caps for Australia, establishing himself as a formidable flanker.
He served as president of Narbonne from 2015 to 2016.
Elsom faced charges of embezzling club funds with unapproved payments to a coach and a general manager who was residing in Australia at that time. He was acquitted of forgery but was ordered to pay 230,000 euros in compensation to the club’s liquidator.
His lawyer, Yann Le Bras, has lodged an appeal against the ruling.
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During his trial last month, the prosecution called for a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 687,000 AUD, while Elsom’s lawyer sought his acquittal.
Previously, in October of last year, Elsom had been sentenced to five years without appearing in court for the hearing.
Since that conviction, an international arrest warrant has been outstanding against him. Although Elsom requested a retrial with legal counsel, he did not attend the court proceedings last month.
Rocky Elsom at Allianz Stadium. Getty
Escaped from Ireland
Elsom earned the title of man of the match when he was part of the Leinster team that clinched the 2009 European Cup alongside Irish legends Johnny Sexton and Brian O’Driscoll.
Having resided in Ireland since August 2024, he subsequently fled the country following the issuance of an international arrest warrant against him. Elsom has denied all allegations and claimed that under his guidance, Narbonne was financially stable.
“(Narbonne) achieved solid profits, had good sporting results, and remained in Pro D2 (the second tier of French rugby) until 2016 and beyond,” he stated in an October press release.
“It appears that I have become a scapegoat for the long-term mismanagement of this historic rugby club.”
Narbonne has twice won the French Championship in 1936 and 1979, and they’ve been runners-up on three occasions. The club went into liquidation in 2018 and is now competing in the third-tier Fédérale league.
At the time of the arrest warrant, Elsom was working as a coach at a school in Dublin. In a YouTube interview conducted four months ago, he revealed that he fled with only a single backpack upon learning of Ireland’s obligations to extradite him to France.
During the interview with Mark Bouris from a concealed location, he expressed that he hadn’t been aware of the public trial in October.
“This is a very significant aspect. I was completely unaware that a court case was happening, and there was no way for me to find out,” he noted.
Contributions to this article were made by AP sports writer Jerome Pugmire in Paris.
Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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