Blake handed six-month betting ban

The 51-year-old Australian was found guilty of placing a bet on a European Champions Cup match between Toulon and the Tigers on December 13 last year, and also betting on an Aviva Premiership match between Newcastle and Leicester on March 8.

Blake, who was also fined £669 - the profit made on the bets placed - and ordered to pay costs of £500, 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 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's appeal against the length of the ban was subsequently dismissed by the RFU.