Former Leinster and Australian rugby player Rocky Elsom has denied allegations of forgery and embezzlement dating back to his time as chairman of French club Narbonne, after a term of international judgment was issued against him.

The 41-year-old was convicted last week of forgery, use of forgery and misuse of company assets in 2014 and 2015 by a court in the French city and sentenced to five years in prison. An international arrest warrant was then issued. He was also ordered to repay some €700,000 to the club.

However, in a statement published by the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday, Elsom said he had not been informed of the court hearing or given an opportunity to defend his allegations.

“Not allowing me to defend the charges is a clear perversion of justice,” said Elsom, who the newspaper said would appeal the guilty verdict.

“I have little more information about the evidence that was presented at the hearing (other) than (what) is in the public domain. So I can only respond to allegations that have been raised publicly.

“I have not been questioned about this matter and the length of the proceedings appears to have deliberately excluded me from giving evidence.”

Elsom played for Leinster in the 2008–09 season and was instrumental in the team winning their first European Champions Cup, being selected as player of the match in both the semi-final and final.

He recently said in an interview with the Sunday Times that he had returned to Dublin, living in Rathmines and coaching rugby at Leeson Street Catholic University School while recovering from injury .

He told the newspaper he was taking a break from construction work in Queensland and planned to stay in Ireland until the end of the year.