Commencing in late 2020, legal action backed by 9 former professional rugby union players was initiated against the Rugby Football Union, the Welsh Rugby Union and World Rugby governing body on the basis that they had failed to adequately protect players from the risks associated with concussion, resulting in players being diagnosed with various neurological disorders such as early-onset dementia, and CTE – the number of rugby players suing the game’s governing bodies has now grown into the hundreds as the claim has sought media attention

However, former England prop, Will Green, has alleged in an interview with the Telegraph that legal firm, Ryland Garth, repeatedly pressured him to join the claim despite his medical reports showing no signs of a brain injury.

When Green – who won four England caps retiring in 2007 – refused to join the “no win, no fee” claim, he was charged thousands of pounds in legal and medical fees by Rylands Garth.

Green refused to pay these costs and the firm’s claim against him has since been dismissed in court, with the judge ruling that Rylands Garth misrepresented their services and that their letter of engagement was “at very best, vague, muddled and highly confusing”.

Responding to Green’s allegations, Rylands Garth said: “At no point was Mr Green lied to and that’s not what the court found.

We believe the 37-page letter of engagement Mr Green entered into was very clear.

We represent around 900 claimants who have suffered a form of brain injury playing the sports they adored. None have been asked to pay anything for their testing.

However, players are at risk of being billed retrospectively by Rylands Garth if they withdraw from the lawsuit following initial testing.

Mr Green’s tests were undertaken by two highly experienced neuro-specialists, but he disagreed with the results and decided to leave the action. We asked him to pay for some of those costs, in line with the letter of engagement.”

A statement has been issued from an SRA spokesperson in light of the allegations stating that “following additional information in the court case, we can confirm that we will be looking into this before deciding on next steps.”

All parties involved in the concussion claim as a whole continue to await an allocated trial date.

The contents of this post do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only.

Associated photo designed by Freepik.

The contents of this post do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only ■