International arrest warrant issued for Australian rugby great Rocky Elsom

French authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for the former Australia rugby captain Rocky Elsom.

Elsom has been found guilty of forgery, use of forgery and misuse of corporate assets and sentenced to five years in prison by a French court.

The 41-year-old was president of Narbonne rugby club for three years until 2016, before being removed from his role and leaving behind what French newspaper Midi Olympique described as a “catastrophic financial situation”.

Elsom is accused of embezzling around €700,000 (NZ$1.25 million) before exiting the club, who were relegated to the third division of French rugby two years later.

In a twist, the former forward resurfaced just last week in Ireland and gave an interview to The Sunday Times. He revealed that he was back in Dublin until the end of the year and coaching at the Catholic University School while he recovered from an injury, having left behind his construction business in Queensland.

“I’m recovering from an injury and this is a good place to be for it,” Elsom said in the interview. “I had a break in work and thought I should take it. I’m trying to avoid getting cut open again so I’ll just stay here and work on that.

“With the construction business back home, I’ve got people there who are very good. They don’t need me at the moment so I’m happy about that.”

Elsom noted in the same interview that he had not alerted his old Leinster teammates that he was back in Dublin. However, at the time of the interview, the back-rower was due to attend Saturday’s sold-out URC fixture at Croke Park between Leinster and Munster as a guest of his former side. He was due to take part in a Q&A session alongside old team-mates Bernard Jackman, Shane Horgan and Malcolm O’Kelly.

His brief time with Leinster, then coached by Michael Cheika, was a huge success – with Elsom helping the province to their first Heineken Cup title in 2009 with a win over Leicester Tigers. Elsom was named player of the match in the final.

Elsom won 75 caps for Australia and captained the side following his return from Ireland, having also played in his career for the Waratahs (twice), Brumbies, Kobelco Steelers, Toulon and finally Racing Club de Narbonne before retiring.