Rugby concussion lawsuit rises to 1,100 former players

The law firm bringing the lawsuit claims that more than 520 additional former rugby players have signed on to file a concussion lawsuit against the sport’s authorities.

According to Rylands Garth, there are currently 319 former rugby league players, compared to 784 who were from rugby union.

Former England players Gavin Henson, Colin Charvis, Ryan Jones, England and the British and Lions scrum-half Harry Ellis are among the players who are suing World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union, and the Welsh Rugby Union for damages.

Former British and Irish Lions duo Lee Byrne and Phil Greening were confirmed to be parties to the concussion lawsuit in November.

The former players assert that the governing bodies lacked responsibility for taking appropriate steps to protect them from serious brain injuries.

The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) and the Rugby Football League (RFL) are both facing similar legal proceedings.

Roy Heaney, who played for Wigan and Salford in the 1980s and was diagnosed with early-onset dementia and probable CTE, is one of the claimants in the rugby league case.

He claimed that his rugby league career was insufficient because he frequently had concussions and that the care he received while training and playing games was insufficient.

Before the case might go to trial in the following year, new players had one more chance to join the legal proceedings on Friday, May 30.