Concussion Litigation in Rugby – Part II: Breach of Duty

1. Introduction This article is the (long overdue) second part of a series of articles on the concussion litigation in rugby union, which was instigated in December 2020 by a group of former professional players against the Rugby Football Union…

Concussion Litigation in Rugby – Part I: Duty of Care

1. Introduction In December 2020, legal action was instigated by a group of former professional rugby players against the Rugby Football Union (“RFU”), the Welsh Rugby Union (“WRU”) and World Rugby, the sport’s International Federation. A pre-action letter of claim…

Matt Hankin v Saracens: Concussion, Causation and Clinical Negligence

For the second time this season, Saracens Rugby Club (“Saracens”) is defending legal proceedings. First it was for breaches of the Premiership Rugby Salary Cap Regulations in front of an independent disciplinary panel (discussed here); now it is in the High…

Saracens and the Salary Cap – Part III: The Legal Implications

Now that the dust has settled, the wider implications of the Saracens salary cap scandal fall to be considered. Part I of this series explained the decision to sanction the club (the “Decision”) for breaching the Premiership Rugby Salary Cap…

Will Spencer’s Red Card

The rugby world (or at least the twittersphere) erupted into furore on Sunday after Will Spencer’s red card against Wasps. The Leicester lock was sent off in the in the 40th minute after the referee deemed his shoulder to have…

France’s New Concussion Rules: a step in the wrong direction

Jared Payne, Reggie Goodes, James Broadhurst, Mouritz Botha, Nathan White, Kevin McLaughlin, Jonathan Thomas, and Alistair Hargreaves – all have retired due to concussion. Dylan Hartley, George North, Mike Brown, Francis Saili, Dane Coles, Ben Smith, and Ryan Crotty –…

A Legal Headache: Negligence, Concussion and Rugby Union

A Legal Headache: Negligence, Concussion and Rugby Union | Keep Calm Talk Law The world of Rugby Union is slowly coming to terms with the serious long-term impacts that concussion can have on players. And while practices are changing to…