FORMER AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN and Leinster player Rocky Elsom was handed a two-year prison sentence by a French court on Friday, which found him guilty of misusing corporate funds.
The 42-year-old was also fined €100,000 — half of which was suspended — and ordered to pay €240,000 compensation to the liquidator of the Narbonne rugby club where he was president between 2015 and 2016.
Former flanker Elsom, capped 75 times by the Wallabies, was convicted in his absence but was made the subject of an international arrest warrant.
Advertisement
Elsom’s lawyer Yann Le Bras said 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 three-year prison sentence and a €630,000 fine after facing trial for the second time.
He had initially been handed a five-year sentence last year but was retried on appeal.
French champions in 1936 and 1979, Narbonne were placed in receivership and relegated in 2018, after years of financial difficulties.
Elsom told Australian media last year that he had been “scapegoated” for mismanagement of the club after he left, claiming Narbonne were successful on and off the field during his tenure.
Former Leinster player Rocky Elsom handed two-year jail sentence by French court
FORMER AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN and Leinster player Rocky Elsom was handed a two-year prison sentence by a French court on Friday, which found him guilty of misusing corporate funds.
The 42-year-old was also fined €100,000 — half of which was suspended — and ordered to pay €240,000 compensation to the liquidator of the Narbonne rugby club where he was president between 2015 and 2016.
Former flanker Elsom, capped 75 times by the Wallabies, was convicted in his absence but was made the subject of an international arrest warrant.
Elsom’s lawyer Yann Le Bras said 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 three-year prison sentence and a €630,000 fine after facing trial for the second time.
He had initially been handed a five-year sentence last year but was retried on appeal.
French champions in 1936 and 1979, Narbonne were placed in receivership and relegated in 2018, after years of financial difficulties.
Elsom told Australian media last year that he had been “scapegoated” for mismanagement of the club after he left, claiming Narbonne were successful on and off the field during his tenure.
– © AFP 2025
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Courts Rocky Elsom Rugby