Rugby-Wallabies' Pocock warned by ARU after protest arrest

* Former Wallabies captain gets written warning after arrest * Pocock due to appear in court in mid-January (Adds ARU statement) SYDNEY, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Injured Wallabies flanker David Pocock has been issued a written warning by the Australian Rugby Union after he was charged by police following an environmental protest in New South Wales on Sunday. The Zimbabwe-born 26-year-old, who has been sidelined for the last two years by knee injuries, was among seven protestors who chained themselves to equipment at a blockade at Whitehaven Coal Ltd.'s (WHC.AX) Maules Creek mine in the Leard State Forest. All were granted conditional bail after arrest, New South Wales police said in a statement on Monday. Police did not explicitly name Pocock in the statement, though they said a 26-year-old man from Canberra was due to appear in Narrabri Local Court on Jan. 14 next year. Pocock plays for the Canberra-based ACT Brumbies and the Leard Forest Alliance, an umbrella group protesting the mine, told local media the former Wallabies' captain had been charged. The openside flanker had said on Sunday he felt it was time for Australians to take 'direct action on climate change' but his protest drew a dim view from his employers at the ARU. "While we appreciate David has personal views on a range of matters, we've made it clear that we expect his priority to be ensuring he can fulfil his role as a high-performance athlete," the ARU said in a statement announcing they had issued him a written warning. "The matter is now subject to legal proceedings and we will now let the legal process take its course." Whitehaven, which is on track to become Australia's biggest independent coal producer in 2015, is looking to speed up construction of the Maules Creek coal project so that it can start exporting early next year and bolster revenue in the wake of depressed coal prices. Construction on the A$767 million ($652.1 million) project is ahead of schedule and below budget despite a protest blockade that has been in place for more than two years. More than 280 people have been arrested, according to the protest group. (Writing by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by Alan Baldwin and Sudipto Ganguly)