In a month filled with Mad Monday celebrations across both major footballing codes, the story about the former Wallabies skipper, an allegedly embezzled million dollars and an Irish schoolboy coaching gig is worth a double take.
So too, the back page ‘Rocky Horror Show’ headline of The Sun Herald, detailing the international arrest warrant issued for former Australian captain Rocky Elsom by French authorities for crimes committed almost a decade ago.
And even by the standards of Australian rugby’s more notable and drama-filled careers, this is new ground.
The arrest warrant and extradition: what comes next?
Elsom, 41, was sentenced to five years prison on Friday by a court in Narbonne, with the charges stemming from his 2015-16 term as president of the Narbonne club.
The former Wallabies skipper was removed from the role at the time and was found guilty of misappropriating a total of €700,000 ($1.13 million) during his tenure.
Rocky Elsom, pictured in 2011, is wanted by French authorities.Credit: Getty Images
He was convicted in absentia by the court, having been accused of forging documents and abusing corporate assets. Locally based lawyer Patrick Tabet told AFP following Elsom’s sentencing that he has been ordered to pay back the embezzled funds.
Tabet is quoted in the Ouest-France newspaper claiming Elsom was found to have made a “completely unjustified” payment of €79,000 ($128,000) to a former coach.
He also said Elsom in his capacity as president gave a monthly salary of €7,200 ($11,670) to an Australian resident who “never came to Narbonne” to act as Narbonne’s general manager, and who “did not provide any services” to the club.
The five-year sentence handed down more than doubled the two-year punishment recommended by the case’s prosecution, with Elsom described as “untraceable and unreachable throughout the proceedings”, prompting the court’s international arrest warrant.
Rocky Elsom played 75 times for the Wallabies.Credit: AP
As a member of the European Union, Ireland maintains an extradition treaty with France, with the prison term of Elsom’s sentence meeting Irish threshold requirements.
Should Elsom remain in Ireland, the Department of Justice acts as managing body for any extradition process, typically taking 60-90 days if it is pursued.
So where is he now?
A famously reclusive figure in rugby circles, Elsom surprisingly resurfaced seven days ago, giving a rare interview to Ireland’s The Sunday Times.
Elsom told the newspaper he was employed by the Catholic University School (CUS) in Dublin as a rugby coach until December. At the time of writing, requests for comment from the school have not been met.
Elsom is believed to have still been on Irish soil as recently as last week.
Following the warrant for his arrest being issued, he pulled out of another rare public appearance, when he had been touted as a guest at the marquee Leinster-Munster clash, which was attended by a record 80,468-strong crowd at Dublin’s Croke Park.
Elsom had been due to feature in a sponsor’s pre-match Q&A segment as a guest of Leinster, where he is held in exalted status, but the club confirmed his withdrawal on game day.
The French connection and an ugly exit
Elsom arrived in Narbonne in 2014 to round out a well-travelled playing career, before joining the club’s supervisory board and being appointed president a year later.
Elsom training with the Barbarians in 2009.Credit: Steve Christo
He was one of several Australians involved in the attempted revival of the one-time French powerhouse, which in 2011 was bought by investment found FGM, led by World Cup-winning coach Bob Dwyer and former Waratahs general manager David Gibson.
Neither Dwyer nor Gibson is accused of any wrongdoing. Dwyer did not respond to calls for comment.
Former Narbonne coach Justin Harrison declined to comment when approached as well, having been employed at the club until 2016 with former Wallabies teammate Chris Whittaker as an assistant at one point.
Narbonne’s initial rise under Elsom’s stewardship came alongside ‘Moneyball’ descriptors of the club’s roster approach against cashed up rivals.
“I wasn’t the most popular guy in town at that time, but I would have been less popular in the long run had those measures not been taken,” Elsom told SBS in 2014 after a significant overhaul of the club had it tracking back toward the French Top 14.
Tensions emerged soon enough though as Narbonne was ultimately relegated to semi-professional status and French outlet Midi Olympique described Elsom’s exit in June 2016 as coming “without any formal announcement, for new, mysterious adventures”.
At the same time, the club’s former lawyer Frederic Pinet lodged a police complaint claiming he was threatened by Elsom.
“I heard someone screaming my name and climbing the stairs, stamping their feet,” Pinet told French media at the time.
Rocky Elsom celebrates Leinster’s historic Heineken Cup final victory in 2009.
Credit: Getty Images
“It was Rocky Elsom, in a black rage, who had forced past my secretary. He was accompanied by [Tongan player] Lei Tomiki, who stayed at the door. Once in my office, Elsom looked at me, face to face and yelled, ‘My cheque! My cheque!’ I thought he was going to hit me.”
Elsom denied threatening Pinet.
A revered and complex figure
As noted by The Sunday Times in snagging their rare interview with Elsom, his initial reluctance for “some old acquaintances to discover via the media that he was back in town,” sums up much of the sentiment around him.
Elsom’s single 2008/09 season stint under Michael Cheika at Leinster is regarded as one of the more pivotal ever played in Irish rugby, such was his on-field impact with 13 man-of-the-match awards in 20 games as the club won its first Heineken Cup.
His exit from Australian rugby – as one of the first Wallabies picked between 2005 and 2008 – to join Leinster was a stunning move. So too his return a year later, earning the national captaincy by the 2009 Spring Tour.
His removal as Australian skipper weeks out from the 2011 World Cup simply continued one of the more unpredictable, but nonetheless significant careers in Wallaby gold.
“Enigmatic” is the word numerous teammates have settled on over the years. Elsom’s recent re-emergence as an Irish schoolboy coach fitting that perfectly, only for yet another twist in the tale.
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