Rugby Union - Autumn International - Ireland v New Zealand - Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland - November 13, 2021 General view of rugby balls before the match REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Hundreds of former rugby players must hand over medical records and neurological test results after Britain's High Court on Monday dismissed their challenge to a requirement that they do so, clearing away an obstacle in a concussion lawsuit launched more than four years ago.
The former rugby union and rugby league players say repeated concussive and sub-concussive blows left them with serious neurological conditions including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, early-onset dementia and motor neurone disease.
They accuse World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union, the Welsh Rugby Union and others of failing to protect them from those risks. The governing bodies have denied liability.
Judge Dexter Dias said orders issued in February 2024 and July 2025 requiring the claimants to hand over their medical records and all documents from neurological testing were proportionate and necessary to manage the litigation.
"I find that there has been non-compliance with my previous order," Dias said in his judgment, "but notwithstanding that, standing back and doing justice as I must, it is not appropriate to exercise the draconian remedy of strike out."
The judgment says the players resisted because their solicitor wrongly thought disclosure meant only documents in hand or relied on, not full testing records and medical history.
When told it meant everything, they called it impossible, but the judge rejected that.
"I concur with the defendants' submission that they are not simply seeking all medical records for the sake of it or to act in a 'Machiavellian' way," he said. "An erroneous inclusion of a claimant or claimants in the lead cohort may affect many other claims wrongly, unhelpfully or unfairly."
Law firm Rylands Garth, representing the former players, said it was grateful to the judge for providing clarity and it would comply with the court's orders.
"Many of these documents were disclosed several years ago. The defendants have never formally responded to the claims and continue to attempt to hold up the case's progress through the court," a spokesperson for the law firm said.
The governing bodies have previously said player welfare remained their priority and they wanted the case heard as soon as possible.
Monday's ruling does not decide liability but enforces compliance after years of delays and allows for selection of lead cases expected to shape the outcome of the wider claims.
Rylands Garth said earlier this year that more than 1,000 former amateur and professional players have joined the action.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
