No proven link between rugby and MND

Playing rugby has no causal link to motor neurone disease (MND), according to an expert in the incurable muscle-wasting condition.

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The game is reeling from the news that 47-year-old former England captain Lewis Moody has been diagnosed with MND, which caused the death of fellow players Doddie Weir, Rob Burrow and Joost van der Westhuizen.

Leicester and Gloucester second row Ed Slater was also given the same diagnosis in 2022.

Dr Nick Cole, head of research at MND Association, says that research indicates a combination of factors are responsible for the progressive disease that attacks the brain and spinal cord.