HARD TIME | 5 Rugby Players Who Spent Time in Prison

Known as "the Quiet Man" of French rugby, Cecillon captained the national side five times during a career that brought 46 caps in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Here are five rugby players who have spent some time of their life in jail, in no particular order.

On 10 November 2006, Cécillon, a former France captain, was found guilty of murdering his wife and sentenced to 20 years in prison, five more years than the prosecution had sought. The sentence was reduced to 14 years on appeal before he was released on parole in 2011.

Earlier this month a judge in Perpignan, southern France, sentenced Cecillon to 12 months in jail, with six months suspended, after a night of violence in August at a vineyard where he was helping with the grape harvest, according to the local L'Independant news site.

Steven Pokere's New Zealand jersey is in Woodward's possession after a swap.[/caption]

From 1981 to 1985, he played 39 matches for the All Blacks. But in 2005, Pokere was sentenced to 2½ years in jail for conspiracy to defraud investors of $NZ4million, relating to a company that he ran with three others, all Mormons, that targeted fellow church members, many of whom were friends and family of the quartet.

The England international, who won 43 caps between 1971 and 1980, was jailed for theft in February 1998 after admitting stealing money from a trust fund of millionaire friend John Gorna. After his release, he commented on living in London since his release - recently said: "I don't follow rugby any more, I'm just looking to get on with my life."

He was tasered six times after driving at 150mph in a police chase in March 2018. The ex-England rugby league star crashed into a house in Leigh and fought officers, threatening one with a Taser he stole from them.

The 30-year-old used "his size and experience on the rugby field" to evade arrest, Greater Manchester Police said.

He was jailed for 23 months at Bolton Crown Court after admitting dangerous driving and assault.

The former Wales women's rugby player has been jailed for seven years after being convicted of sexual activity with an underage girl.

Rhian Nokes, 29, had been working as school's sports coach in south Wales in 2010 when she started a relationship with the pupil.