England World Cup winner says rugby ‘not safe sport’ to play and criticises ‘year-round’ workload

A member of England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup winning team has opened up on the dangers of the sport.

Steve Thompson revealed in 2020 that he had been diagnosed with early onset dementia, with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated blows to the head.

He has previously said that he has no memory of winning the World Cup final against Australia.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday 17 April, Thompson criticised the “year-round” workload rugby players face and suggested the sport is “just flogging the players until they fall apart”.