Rugby World Cup hero can’t remember final
Steve, 42, in dementia legal battle
ENGLAND rugby union World Cup winner Steve Thompson has early onset dementia – and cannot recall winning the trophy in 2003.
The former hooker, 42, is joining a group of former players in a potentially landmark legal action for the sport.
The eight ex-players – all under the age of 45 – are looking to bring legal proceedings against World Rugby – the game’s governing body – the Rugby Football Union in England and the Welsh Rugby Union.
They claim the organisations failed to protect them from the risks caused by concussions.
Thompson said he would not want his own children to play the game “the way it is” and he regrets taking it up.
All the players have received the same diagnosis – dementia with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy, for which the only known cause is repeated blows to the head.
Richard Boardman, of Rylands Law, representing the players, reportedly said there is a “ticking timebomb” of players as they reach their 40s and 50s. He is in touch with more than 100 players who are reporting symptoms.
A landmark study last year found footballers were 3.5 times more likely to die of degenerative brain disease.
Thompson, who won 73 caps, said he has panic attacks and mood swings. He told The Guardian: “You see us lifting the World Cup but I can’t remember it. Honestly, I don’t know scores.”
He said of his wife: “I could look at Steph sometimes. And she says it’s like I’m a complete blank. The name’s gone.”
The players are part of the first generation to have had entire careers in rugby union, after the game went professional in the mid-90s. The RFU said it had not been legally approached about the matter but “takes player safety very seriously.”