Former Australia flanker Rocky Elsom has been sentenced to two years in prison after a French court found him guilty of misusing corporate assets while president of French club Narbonne.
Elsom, 42, who was at Narbonne from 2013-16, was convicted in absentia and an international warrant has been issued for his arrest. He has denied the charges. He was also ordered to pay a €100,000 (£84,141) fine, with half the sum suspended.
Elsom, who won 75 caps for his country and also won the Heineken Cup with Leinster in 2009, took charge of the club in the south of France in 2015.
In February, the public prosecutor had requested three years’ imprisonment and a €630,000 (£529,411) fine for Elsom, who was retried after appealing an initial five-year prison sentence handed down in October 2024.
At the October 2024 trial, which he also did not attend, Elsom had been found guilty of forgery, use of forgery and misuse of corporate assets.
The forgery charges were dropped from the 2025 trial but Elsom has to pay compensation of €219,760 to the club’s liquidator.
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