Former Leicester Tigers defence coach Phil Blake has been handed a six-month ban by the RFU for two breaches of anti-corruption and betting rules.
The first of those charges relates to betting on a European Champions Cup match between the Tigers and Toulon last December, while the second surrounds betting on an Aviva Premiership clash against Newcastle Falcons in March.
A three-person panel also imposed a fine of £669 and ordered Blake, who left the club earlier this year, to pay back costs of £500 in total.
Chairman of the RFU disciplinary panel, Christopher Quinlan QC, said in a statement: "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 imposed a sanction which we consider fair and proportionate to what he did, while having due regard to the proper consideration of deterrence.
"We have sought to strike a proper balance between the competing factors and arrive at a sanction we consider to be just. We must have regard to the wider interests of the game. It is important that those involved in the game and the wider public understand that any breach of the anti-corruption and betting regulations will and must be treated seriously."
Blake lodged an appeal against the length of the sanction, which was dismissed by the RFU.
Daniel Lewis
