FORMER WALLABIES CAPTAIN JAILED FOR TWO YEARS

Rocky Elsom has been jailed for two years by a French court.

The former Wallabies captain was found guilty of misusing corporate assets while he was the president of French rugby club Narbonne.

He was absent from court on Friday, and an international warrant was issued for his arrest. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

Elsom, a former Australian national rugby player and captain from 2009 to 2011, was head of Narbonne from 2015 to 2016. As part of the Irish club Leinster, he won the Heineken Cup in 2009.

He has previously denied any wrongdoing and received an initial five-year prison term in October last year.

Following an appeal, he was retried, and again, he didn’t attend the court proceedings. During the retrial, he was found guilty of forgery, use of forgery and misuse of corporate assets.

Narbonne used to be a successful club. It won the French rugby championship twice and finished second three times. In 2018, the club was forced into liquidation and now competes in the third-tier Fedrale League.

Since August 2024, Elsom lived in Ireland, but he fled the country after an arrest warrant was issued against him soon after his arrival.

Image credit: Irish Examiner