Eight former professional rugby players are planning a groundbreaking lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies which could massively shake up its safety regulations.
Despite being under the age of 45, all the players involved have been diagnosed with early onset dementia, which is likely to have come from repeated head trauma while playing the sport.
The lawsuit will be filed against the sports worldwide governing body World Rugby, as well as the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union.
Solicitor Richard Boardman of Rylands Law is leading the case, representing more than 100 former players who have complained about symptoms of neurological conditions.
“The vast majority of the former players we represent love the game and don’t want to see it harmed in any way,” Boardman said. “They just want to make it safer so current and future generations don’t end up like them.”
He also said there is a ‘ticking time bomb’ of players waiting to come forward with similar conditions once they retire.
Rugby is not the only sport to be in the news recently regarding head trauma, with calls for football to change its ways around concussion to better protect players.
Memory loss is one of the main symptoms that the players are recording, with ex-England hooker Steve Thompson saying he can’t remember winning the 2003 World Cup.
Former Wales international Alix Popman was also involved in a fire in his own home due to not remembering that he left the grill on.
Popman was diagnosed with dementia earlier this year aged 40, with his doctor saying he could be in a care home by the time he is 50.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “there were areas on my brain that were picked up on the scan that showed significant damage. I think they worked out I have had over 100,000 sub concussions during my career.
“The neurologist described it as a leaking tap. So, a leaking tap on a piece of mud if it drips once or twice, there would be no mark on the floor.
“But if it dripped for 14 years, there would be a big hole and that is the damage that is showing on the scans for myself.”
Popman’s wife, Mel, says she has already noticed changes in her husband’s behavior, telling the BBC “it’s watching the lights fading gradually in him and watching those changes. Him being here but not being the same Alix.”
A statement from Rylands Law said the sports governing bodies “owed the players, as individual professional players, a duty to take reasonable care for their safety by establishing and implementing rules in respect of the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of actual or suspected concussive and sub-concussive injuries”
Boardman continued this, saying: “We are now in a position where we believe the governing bodies across the rugby world are liable for failing to adequately protect their players on this particular issue.
“Depending on how many people come forward, the case could be worth tens of millions, maybe even hundreds of millions. Right now we’re representing over 100 former players but we expect many more to get in contact. In short, it is an epidemic.”
The group of players have also set out 15 safety regulations, which includes introducing tests for concussed players, regulated training and more education on neurodegenerative diseases.
In a response to BBC Sport, World Rugby said: “While not commenting on speculation, World Rugby takes player safety very seriously and implements injury-prevention strategies based on the latest available knowledge, research and evidence.”
