An international arrest warrant has been issued for Australia’s rugby legend

An international arrest warrant has been issued for former Australian rugby player Rocky Elsom following his conviction for money laundering in France, French media said.

The former Australian national team captain was president of RC Narbonne, one of France’s most prestigious clubs, in 2015-16. On Friday, the court found him guilty of paying tens of thousands of euros to former party officials for little or no work.

Elsom was convicted in absentia and sentenced to five years in prison, according to French media.

He recently told the Sunday Times newspaper that he was living in the Irish capital, Dublin.

In an interview he had with this agency, published on October 6, Elsom said he was coaching at Catholic University School, a private school for boys in Dublin. He said he planned to stay in the city until December.

The Irish sports legend, 41, played for Leinster Rugby in the late 2000s and helped the team win the Heineken Cup, Europe’s top club rugby competition, in 2009.

He also made 75 appearances for the Australian national team – nicknamed the Wallabies – between 2005 and 2011. After retirement he was part of the consortium that bought RC Narbonne.

A French court convicted Elsom of misusing company assets and forging documents while he was president of the club, local media reports said.

The lawyer involved in the case, Patrick Tabet, was quoted by Ouest-France newspaper as saying Elsom made an “unjust” payment of 79,000 euros (£66,000) to the former coach and gave the Australian a monthly salary of 7,200. a resident who “never came to Narbonne”.

The club was put into administration and relegated in 2018.

The judge handed down a harsher prison sentence than the two years requested by prosecutors. Mr Tabet said the former Wallabies star had been ordered to pay back €705,000 (£586,000).