Head injuries: World Rugby braces for huge class action lawsuit

Some problematic times lie ahead for Rugby Union as a total of 185 brain-damaged players have ignited legal proceedings as they seek compensation for their injuries, compensation which is said to number in the millions. 

The governing bodies currently in the firing line are World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union. 

Among the plaintiffs are former England hooker Steve Thompson, former Wales captain Ryan Jones and former All Black tighthead Carl Hayman. 

The players have accused the relevant unions of failing to do the following: 

• Use expert medical advice on the risks of permanent brain damage and inform, educate and warn players. 

• Ensure players received regular medical examination for evidence of brain damage. 

• Investigate the effects of collisions on the brain. 

• Reduce the amount of contact in training and the number of matches. 

• Protect or extend the mandatory 21-day stand-down period after a concussion rather than reducing it. 

• Act on the knowledge that concussions often have delayed presentation and that the five or 10-minute assessments during a match were wholly inadequate. 

• Implement rules to limit the number of substitutions of non-injured players and reduce the risk to players of heavy collisions. 

Players party to the class action have been suffering from 'irreversible neurological impairments' with conditions such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), early onset dementia, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and motor neurone disease. 

Financially, it certainly is a worrying time for the sport. In the USA, a class action for the same damages was brought against the NFL, the result of which saw the latter pay out $1billion to victims. 

“It's a ticking time bomb,” said Richard Boardman, one of the legal representatives. “The vast majority of the former players we represent love rugby and don't want to see it harmed in any way. They just want to make it safer so current and future generations don't end up like them.” 

In a recent, emotional interview, Ryan Jones – who, at the age of just 41, has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, said: 

“Rugby is walking head-long with its eyes closed into a catastrophic situation.” 

42 year-old former England flanker Michael Lipman, who now suffers from CTE (which also sparked an alcohol addiction) shared his thoughts on the concussion test protocols of his time as well as his current life. 

“Everyone cheated those tests,” he said. “You had to touch a button when a card turned over. It was the most laughable test in the world. 

“In my last season, I was carried off five times. There was a game against the All Blacks at Twickenham where I got a huge knock in the first 10 minutes and had this fuzzy, blurry horizontal line in my vision that didn't go away. I played on until about 70 minutes. I should have come off but I didn't.” 

After turning to alcohol to cope, Lipman sought help through rehab. 

“It scares the hell out of me,” he said. “I drank because I didn't want to deal with myself. I was probably drinking two bottles of wine and a couple of beers, four nights a week. 

“I was drinking for the sake of drinking. I hated myself. Two days before I went into the clinic I broke down. I was hanging my children's washing on the line and I just broke down, on the back deck of our house, crying in the foetal position. A 42-year-old grown man. It hurts.” 

World Rugby has issued the following statement: 

“As of Sunday afternoon, World Rugby has not been issued with a legal claim. It would be inappropriate to comment until we have received the formal details of any action being taken.”