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Former Wales assistant coach Rob Howley was banned from all rugby activities for breaching World Rugby\u2019s anti-corruption and betting regulations, on this day in 2019.<\/p>\n
Howley was banned for 18 months, with nine months suspended, after it emerged he had placed bets on matches involving Wales and two of their players.<\/p>\n
It was found that, over a four-year period from November 2015 to September 2019, Howley placed 363 bets involving 1,163 rugby matches with three bookmakers through accounts held under his own name.<\/p>\n
Of the bets, 24 involved Wales or were related to \u201cconnected events\u201d, such as Six Nations games involving rival teams. On two occasions he bet on unnamed Wales players scoring tries.<\/p>\n
Howley was sent home from Japan shortly before the 2019 World Cup began after the WRU became aware of possible wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
The alarm was first raised when WRU policy and integrity manager Jeremy Rogers was contacted by an employee of Betway, who claimed that Howley had placed bets on Wales games.<\/p>\n
It emerged that Howley gambled on a Wales player to be the first try-scorer in the 25-7 Six Nations victory over Ireland in March, but he stated that it was part of a treble that fell in line with his normal recreational betting activity. He also backed another player to score a try.<\/p>\n
When the unnamed players were interviewed they denied any knowledge that the bets had been placed on them, with Howley supporting their testimony.<\/p>\n
The WRU found that Howley made an overall loss of \u00a34,000 during the time period under scrutiny and described his activity as a \u201chobby\u201d, while adding that \u201cwe use the word hobby with some caution because it seems that a trigger for Mr Howley\u2019s betting activity was a family tragedy involving the death of his sister\u201d.<\/p>\n
Howley returned to coaching with Canada after serving his ban and, in December, was appointed as technical coach with Wales ahead of the 2024 Six Nations.<\/p>\n