Bhavul Haria & Daniel Sheehan explain why serious disclosure failures did not end hundreds of former players’ brain injury claims
- The High Court allowed more than 500 former rugby players’ brain injury claims to proceed despite serious disclosure failures attributed to their former solicitors.
- The claimants must meet strict future requirements; the court has made no finding on liability or the alleged injuries.
The High Court, in a recent judgment, has granted relief from sanctions to more than 500 former rugby union and rugby league players whose claims for alleged long-term neurological injury had been at risk of being struck out. In Hughes and others v World Rugby Ltd and others [2026] EWHC 2149 (KB), Senior Master Cook held, albeit ‘with some hesitation’, that the claims should be permitted to continue despite serious and repeated failures to comply with court-ordered disclosure obligations.
The decision is procedurally significant, but it does not determine the underlying allegations of negligence or establish liability on the part of any defendant.
