Former Warrior banned for betting breach

Phil Blake. Photo /Getty

Former Warriors, Manly and South Sydney player Phil Blake has been banned for six months by a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel after he was found guilty of two breaches of anti-corruption and betting rules in England.

The 51-year-old Australian was found guilty of placing a bet on a European Champions Cup rugby union match between Toulon and the Leicester Tigers on December 13 last year - while he was the Leicester defence coach.

He was also found guilty of betting on an English Premiership match between Newcastle and Leicester on March 8.

Blake, who was also fined £669 (NZ$1,529) - the profit made on the bets placed - and ordered to pay costs of £500 (A$1,120), will be barred from rugby-related activity until November 24, 2015.

Christopher Quinlan QC, chairman of the RFU Disciplinary Panel said: "This is the first such case that we know of in rugby union and is certainly the first brought under the relatively new Regulation 17, so this is new ground.

"In arriving at the appropriate sanction we have been careful to remind ourselves that we must not make an example of Phil Blake.

"We have sought to strike a proper balance between the competing factors and arrive at a sanction we consider to be just.

Blake's appeal against the length of the ban was subsequently dismissed by the RFU.

London-born Blake joined Leicester in June 2014 on a one-year deal which was not renewed at the end of last season.

And the Tigers spoke highly of the former Manly coach in a response to the RFU's ban.

A statement read: "We acknowledge the decision of the disciplinary hearing in relation to the conduct of Phil Blake and the panel's views on betting within professional sport.

"The club also fully endorses the governing body's regard for the wider interests of the game in respect of any breaches of the anti-corruption and betting regulations."

Blake played for the Warriors, the eighth club of his career, from 1995 to 1997 before retiring.

-AAP