Former rugby icon and past captain of the Australian team, Rocky Elsom, has been handed a two-year prison sentence by a French court. The ruling was made for his inappropriate use of corporate assets while serving as the president of the Narbonne rugby club. Alongside the prison sentence, Elsom has been fined 100,000 euros, with 50% of that amount suspended. Elsom did not attend the court proceedings, and his current location remains unidentified, prompting the issuance of a French arrest warrant.
Elsom boasts an impressive rugby career, having represented Australia 75 times between 2005 and 2011, where he became known for his exceptional skills as a flanker. His tenure as president of Narbonne spanned from 2015 to 2016. Legal troubles arose when he was accused of diverting club resources as unjustified expenses purportedly to compensate a coach or manager based in Australia. Although cleared of forgery-related charges, Elsom has been mandated to pay 230,000 euros to the club’s liquidator.
His legal representative, Yann Le Bras, has moved to appeal the ruling. The trial, which took place the previous month, saw the prosecution advocate for a stiffer penalty of three years imprisonment and a 630,000 euros fine. Le Bras, however, sought full acquittal for Elsom. In an earlier judgment from October of the previous year, Elsom received a five-year sentence, but he was absent from those proceedings as well.
Following that initial conviction, an international warrant for Elsom’s arrest was circulated. In line with French legal provisions, Elsom sought a retrial with legal counseling but did not appear for the session last month. His association with Irish rugby remains notable, having distinguished himself as the man of the match in the 2009 European Cup when played alongside Irish stalwarts like Johnny Sexton and Brian O’Driscoll.
Elsom resided in Ireland from August 2024 up until he departed hastily after learning about the arrest warrant. Despite these allegations, Elsom has maintained his innocence, highlighting that during his leadership, Narbonne rugby club was thriving financially and retained its competitive standing in the Pro D2 league until 2016. In an October statement, he expressed the notion that he was being unfairly targeted as a scapegoat for the club’s subsequent financial mismanagement.
Historically, Narbonne has enjoyed periods of success, clinching the French Championship title in 1936 and 1979 and securing runner-up positions thrice. The club faced liquidation in 2018 and is now competing within the Fédérale league tier.
At the time the arrest warrant surfaced, Elsom was serving as a coach at a Dublin-based school. In a recent interview conducted from an undisclosed location, Elsom disclosed that he immediately left Ireland with minimal belongings upon discovering the country’s obligation to extradite him to France. During the interview, he mentioned being unaware of the public trial conducted in October, emphasizing that there was no feasible way he could have known about it.
