In Hughes v World Rugby Ltd and others, Senior Master Cook granted relief from sanctions ‘with some hesitation’, leaving the substantive allegations unresolved.
Writing in NLJ this week, Bhavul Haria and Daniel Sheehan of Fieldfisher say the court found the defaults significant but treated the players as effectively blameless for failures attributed to their former solicitors. New lawyers have taken over, and the court considered that robust case management could still secure a fair trial. The claimants face strict future disclosure requirements and must bear costs incurred by defendants in securing compliance.
The defendants deny liability. The ruling neither establishes that rugby bodies breached a duty nor proves that head impacts caused the alleged injuries. It preserves the opportunity to test those questions while underlining the demands of managing large group claims.
