Four more former British & Irish Lions have been revealed to be part of the group of players participating in legal action against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union over allegations they sustained brain injuries playing the sport. Lee Byrne, Gareth Cooper, Harry Ellis and Phil Greening, who toured with the Lions between 2001 and 2009, are among a group of 43 who can now be identified when their lawyers withdrew their application for anonymity after a hearing to discuss the matter last week.
Also among the 43 are the England World Cup-winner Heather Stirrup, and a number of former internationals including Scotland’s David Denton, Wales’s Jonathan Thomas, Iestyn Thomas, Chris Horsman and Nic Evans, and the former England Sevens captain Kris Chesney. Two other players were seeking anonymity in advance of withdrawing their claims. The law firm Rylands Garth represents 394 rugby union players and it says a further 350 have signed engagement letters.
Rylands Garth’s Richard Boardman says the decision to drop the anonymity claim “doesn’t have any impact on the merits of the case” but the defendants were quick to suggest that it does.
“Throughout the four years this legal case has taken to date, rugby’s priority has always been the welfare of the players. Whilst we cannot reach out to any of the individual players involved in legal action, what we would want them to know is that we listen, we care and we never stand still on player welfare,” said World Rugby, the RFU and the WRU in a joint statement.
“The delays in this case and conduct of the claimants’ lawyers is a great cause of concern. In the interests of the players, we urge Rylands Garth to meet all court-imposed deadlines and to present the full details of the case they are making against us. Only that way can we move this matter closer to the court hearings which will provide a resolution to this issue, which is surely in the interest of all parties.”
Boardman said the reasons for requesting anonymity were “entirely valid”, especially since several of those involved have been willing to speak in the media about their symptoms. “Many of the people we are representing have anxiety and depression, as our neurologists are prepared to attest to, and the anonymity application was supported by two doctors confirming these symptoms.” The firm decided to withdraw the application because it was unsure it could meet the high bar for anonymity, regardless.
“Certain players asked for anonymity and we wanted to pursue protection as far as we believed legally possible,” said Rylands Garth. “The governing bodies could have consented to our clients’ desire for anonymity but chose not to. Indeed, the governing bodies have contacted the media today to further alert them to this issue, which is disappointing. We continue to thank our players for their bravery in this action. We have tested over 1,400 sportsmen and women, and firmly believe that this litigation is a force for good.”
