Welsh Rugby: Nearly 300 players take legal action over head injuries, says lawyer
The number of rugby players now taking legal action against rugby authorities is expected to have increased to 300, according to one of the lawyers representing the players.
Of those players 120 are claimed to be a mix of professional and amateur players from Wales.
The players are suing the Welsh Rugby Union, the Rugby Football Union in England, and World Rugby over their alleged failure to protect players from sustaining brain damage whilst playing.
Richard Boardman is representing the some of players and said that the number of people joining the legal action is growing as they slowly realise that their health has been affected by their time playing rugby.
"There's a slow gradual realisation across the rugby community that if they are acting unusual, if they do have certain symptoms, the underlying cause is quite possibly brain damage." He said.
"I think prior to this litigation players simply weren't making that link and so that's why the numbers continue to grow."
The lawyer said new claims will be submitted to the court this week.
He said that around 130 more players have come forward this year.
In a study last month, researchers found a "lack of concussion awareness during the active careers of the retired athletes" who took part in their study.
The team at the Neurovascular Research Laboratory at the University of South Wales compared retired rugby players with people of an equivalent age, education, and fitness who had no history of contact sports or concussions.
Professor Damian Bailey said: "They often continued playing despite experiencing classic concussion symptoms."
The study sheds light on the persistent symptoms of concussion experienced by retired players and their impaired cognitive abilities, which may increase their vulnerability to dementia later in life.
In a joint statement from World Rugby, WRU and RFU, they said: “We care deeply about every member of the rugby family and have been saddened by the brave personal accounts of former players who are struggling with health issues.
"Whilst legal claims prevent us from speaking to those players directly, we would want them and their families to know that we care, we listen, and we never stand still when it comes to further cementing rugby as the most progressive sport on athlete welfare.
“Acting on the latest science, evidence and independent expert guidance, we constantly strive to safeguard and support all our players – future, current, and former.
"Rugby is a leader in the prevention, management and identification of head impacts and World Rugby also proactively funds transformational research, embraces innovation and explores technology that can make the sport as accessible, inclusive and safe as possible for all participants.
“As has been the position since December 2020 when these legal claims were first made, we remain unable to comment on the specifics of the legal action as we continue to await the full details of the claims being made against us.”
The High Court will be updated on the case later this year.
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