A group of former rugby players are this week issuing proceedings against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union over what they claim is failure to protect them from permanent injury caused by repetitive concussive and sub-concussive blows.
The class action, which will be the biggest of its kind outside of the US, has been announced by Rylands Law on behalf of numerous professional and semi-professional rugby union players who are affected by various irreversible neurological impairments. These include early onset dementia, probable CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and motor neurone disease.
All of the players involved in the action are in their 30s, 40s and 50s. The progression of the lawsuit, which was first announced back in December 2020, comes after former Wales captain Ryan Jones revealed last week that he has been diagnosed with brain damage at the age of 41 and would be joining the legal action.
