Former Wallabies captain receives prison sentence from French court – report
Ex-Wallabies flanker and captain Rocky Elsom.
Former Wallabies skipper Rocky Elsom has reportedly received a prison sentence of two years from a French court on Friday after he was found guilty of misusing corporate funds.
According to an AFP report, Elsom also has to pay a fine of 100,000 euros – half of which was suspended – and ordered to pay 240,000 euros compensation to the liquidator of the Narbonne rugby club where he served as president in 2015 and 2016.
The 42-year-old, who represented Australia as a flanker in 75 Tests between 2005 and 2011, did not appear in court but was convicted in his absence after he was made the subject of an international arrest warrant.
Set to appeal
His lawyer Yann Le Bras revealed that he would appeal the sentence.
“I have submitted to the court both serious procedural issues and evidence that would allow Rocky Elsom to be acquitted,” he told AFP.
Prosecutors had demanded a prison sentence of three years and a 630,000-euro fine after Elsom faced trial for the second time.
He initially received a five-year sentence in 2024 but was retried on appeal.
Narbonne, who were French champions in 1936 and 1979, were placed in receivership and relegated in 2018, after having financial difficulties for several years.
‘Ordered to pay a substantial sum in compensation’
“He was found guilty of squandering the club’s funds and ordered to pay a substantial sum in compensation for his losses,” Patrick Tabet, Nabonne’s liquidation lawyer, told AFP.
Last year, Elsom told Australian media that he had been “scapegoated” for mismanagement of the club after he left, claiming Narbonne were successful on and off the field during his stint as president.
“(Narbonne) achieved solid profits, had good sporting results, and remained in Pro D2 (the second tier of French rugby) until 2016 and beyond,” he said in a statement in October last year.
“It seems that I have been targeted as a scapegoat for the future mismanagement of this famous rugby club.”
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