Rugby fugitive Rocky Elsom in hiding after fleeing Ireland

Former Australia and Leinster rugby player Rocky Elsom has fled Ireland after Irish police arrived at his workplace and home to detain him following an international arrest warrant issued by French authorities.

Elsom has now gone on record in the Australian press as to his sudden exit from his residence and place of work in Ireland.

The 41-year-old was convicted in October by a French court of forgery, use of forgery, and misuse of corporate assets related to his time as president of French rugby club Narbonne in 2014 and 2015. The court in France sentenced Elsom in absentia to five years in prison and ordered him to repay approximately €700,000 to the club.

Elsom, who did not disclose how he left Ireland or his current location, confirmed in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald that the gardaí visited both his residence and place of employment in Dublin with the intention of taking him into custody.

“The gardaí came to where I worked, came to my home, with the intention of taking me into custody,” Elsom said. “All I can say is I spoke to the gardaí and they said if I’m in Ireland they’ll have to bring me in. So I told them I wasn’t in Ireland, and I wasn’t going to be in Ireland any time soon.”

Elsom criticized the legal proceedings in France, saying that he was neither informed of the trial nor given a chance to respond to the allegations, which he denies. He described the trial process as “intentionally” challenging, claiming it involved “not informing me, not allowing me to be there, running a rumour campaign for eight years.”

The former Wallabies captain expressed concerns over his ability to mount an effective defence while in custody and revealed he is working with a French lawyer to challenge the verdict. He also stated his hope that the Australian government might review his case. “If an Australian citizen is unlikely to get a fair trial in a foreign country, then at the very least I think they are obliged to look into it,” he said.

Until recently, Elsom resided in south Dublin and worked as a rugby coach at the Catholic University School on Leeson Street.

Elsom earned 75 caps for the Wallabies between 2005 and 2011. Elsom had a successful club career, including stints with the Waratahs in Super Rugby and Leinster in Ireland, where he helped secure the 2009 Heineken Cup title. He captained Australia from 2009 to 2011, including during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.