Wales assistant coach Rob Howley was despatched house from the World Cup in Japan on today in 2019 after a breach of betting guidelines.
The then 48-year-old former Wales captain had been part of Warren Gatland’s teaching workforce since 2008 and left Wales’ World Cup squad base within the southern Japanese metropolis of Kitakyushu whereas an investigation into his betting actions came about.
The Welsh Rugby Union mentioned on the time that Howley had “returned to Wales to assist with an investigation in relation to a potential breach of World Rugby regulation 6, specifically betting on rugby union”.
Howley was despatched house six days earlier than Wales’ opening World Cup sport in opposition to Georgia, a fixture they went on to win 43-14.
In a press release, the WRU mentioned: “The WRU can confirm that Rob Howley has returned to Wales to assist with an investigation in relation to a potential breach of World Rugby regulation 6, specifically betting on rugby union.
“The decision was taken to act immediately in light of recent information passed to the WRU.
“No further details can be provided at this stage as this would prejudice the investigation. If required, an independent panel will be appointed to hear the case.
“Rob has co-operated fully with our initial discussions, and we would ask that the media appreciate this is a difficult and personal matter for Rob and that his privacy is respected before an outcome is reached.
“Warren Gatland has consulted with senior players, and Stephen Jones will be arriving in Japan imminently to link up with the squad as attack coach.”
Following the investigation, Howley was banned from all involvement in rugby for 18 months, 9 of which had been suspended, with the ban being backdated from the date he returned house from the match.
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It emerged that Howley was charged with making 364 bets on rugby union over a four-year interval, with 24 on video games related to Wales together with two upon Wales gamers scoring tries.
Howley positioned a guess on a Wales participant to be the primary try-scorer within the 25-7 Six Nations victory over Ireland in March 2019, however Howley acknowledged that it was a part of a treble guess, including that it was part of his regular leisure betting exercise.
However, he later admitted that he knew he couldn’t guess on matches involving Wales and that it was a breach of World Rugby anti-corruption and betting rules.
Following examination of Howley’s digital units, together with his laptop computer and cellphone, “no material was discovered which incriminated Mr Howley to an extent greater than that which he had already admitted”.
Wales reached the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup earlier than dropping 19-16 to eventual champions South Africa.
