A createer Wales star has lhelp down the gauntlet to rugby bosses ahead of today’s head injury case administerment hearing.
Alix Popham, 45, was detectd with dementia in 2020, equitable nine-years after hanging up his boots adhereing stints at Newport, Leeds Tykes, the Llanelli Scarlets and Brive.
The 33-time Wales international is joining around 560 createer rugby take parters as law firm Rylands Garth sets to provide evidence in a two-day case administerment hearing after stars were left battling with life-altering neuroreasonable injuries.
England’s 2003 World Cup triumphning hooker Steve Thompson and ex-Wales skipper Colin Charvis were also named among the take parters hoping for compensation.
Alix Popham getd 33 caps for Wales
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The take parters behind the litigation, which is being brawt agetst World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and Welsh Rugby Union, hope their evidence will be heard in court.
Popham, who discdisthink abouted he wants to one day have the opportunity to “eyeball” those still take partd in rugby, telderly GB News: “It’s five years in April since I got detectd. It’s bloody crazy how rapid that seems but it’s gone reassociate sluggish with the progression that we’re making on the lterrible side.
“The conversations we’re having in rugby now were happening in boxing 100 years ago. It’s shocking what I’ve lgeted about what’s going on, what hasn’t come to airy, what hasn’t been telderly to parents, what still isn’t being telderly to parents, that every hit is causing some harm, and it’s equitable wrong.
“There’s so many leangs going on in the UK at the moment – the Post Office Scandal, the Blood Scandal – and this affair. But with what we understand, with the other side and their lawyers, they’re equitable take parting a game of chess at the moment, and it’s at the cost of current take parters’ health.”
He grasped: “The other side is dragging it out for as extfinished as possible, hoping we run out of money. But we’ve got over £20million in funding from the indeclareivers so that’s never going to happen.
“We’re not going anywhere and it’s happened in lots of other lterrible cases enjoy this. They’ve got to accumulate all the evidence that we’ve got before taking the decision if they’re going to get us to trial. I’ve seen the evidence that we’ve got and it’s shocking with what has gone on over the decade and what has been understandn.”
Revealing what equitableice would see enjoy, Popham shelp: “We won’t remend on anyleang unless those alters are made. I doubt they will confess guilt, enjoy the NFL didn’t, but there’s got to be some financial compensation because personassociate it has been a very difficult time for me.”
Popham tardyr discdisthink abouted that many take parters have seen their inhabits alterd “horrfinishously” after suffering disconnecte neuroreasonable injuries.
The obeseher-of-three elucidateed that he is toiling two-day-a-week spread apass five-days.
“A lot of take parters are reassociate struggling menhighy and what’s going on is torture,” the 45-year-elderly grasped.
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Former Wales international Alix Popham training at his home in Newport, South Wales
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Popham also voiced his frustration with the Six Nations carry outing the 20 minute red card law, cautioning the decision will unbenevolent take parters persist to create hazardous tackles without a unbenevolentingful deterrent.
He went on to elucidate how other alters should be made to rugby to prioritise take parter getedty, including finishing tactical substitutions and confineing communicate training sessions during the season.
“It’s an elderly school mentality that coaches and take parters apshow if they don’t do communicate during the week then they won’t be ready for the adhereing Saturday,” Popham shelp.
The Welsh Rugby Union proclaimd in December that it will now provide a brain health scheme for ex-take parters.
The initiative, called the Brain Health Service, was rolled out three years after the Rugby Football Union uncovered its Advanced Brain Health Clinic for ex-England stars.
Popham, who watches rugby “thraw branch offent eyes” adhereing his dementia diagnosis in 2020, also cautioned that traumatic brain injuries have resulted in a reduction in amateur take parting numbers.
He claimed: “The amateur take parters are genuineising that if they get a horrible injury, be it a shoulder, or a knee, or head injury, then it could put them off toil and with everyleang that’s going on in the country, with money and leangs enjoy that, people can’t get the danger.
“I also leank mums and dads are reading my story, Steve Thompson’s story, seeing the recordaries and genuineising I wouldn’t want Johnny take parting rugby. When I got detectd, I was prentd my girls hadn’t come to me and shelp that they want to take part rugby. And now I would not permit them to take part.”
A staggering 174 rugby clubs that existed in England in 2002 have now disprohibitded, with equitable 36 recent clubs being created during the same time period.
An RFU coshiftrlookioned check, entitled Changing the Game: The Future of Schools Rugby in England, also highairyed dreads over head injuries among school pupils.
Alix Popham (C) of Wales commemorates as the final whistle blows during the RBS Six Nations Championship align between England and Wales at Twickenham on February 2, 2008
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The check cautioned: “In the ‘labeletplace’ of school sport, rugby is not triumphning. A wide range of sports less traditionassociate take parted at school are geting ground, while rugby is losing out. And while football and cricket are now take parted widely by girls in schools, this is not the case for rugby, despite keen growth of rugby for women and girls outside schools and the excellence of the England women’s team.
“Greater evidence and consciousness of injury danger, including head injury danger, and changing attitudes, including wonderfuler danger aversion in society, have led to incrrelieved contest to the central place of rugby even in highly traditional rugby-take parting schools. Schools which do not currently take part rugby notice these and other factors to be barriers to commenceing to take part.”
Meadeclareives have been brawt in by the Rugby Football Union to promise that grassroots rugby take parters who suffer a traumatic brain injury must now postpone a smallest of 21 days before returning to the pitch.
Despite the check in England also citing Wales’s historic connection with the sport, football clearook rugby as the most take parted sport on the other side of the River Severn in 2022.
A study contransiented to the Football Association of Wales showed up to 40 per cent of children in Wales take part football, with equitable six per cent of reactents from all age groups participating in rugby.
However, today’s case administerment hearing comes after disconnectal publishs were liftd on both sides of the lterrible dispute.
Paul McCrory, who was chair of the Concussion in Sport Group, was forced to step down in March 2022 adhereing allegations of inalertectual theft.
The total number of retractions made now go beyonds 17, with ex-take parters dreading the potential impact of the inalertectual theft affair on the argue around head injuries.
However, the litigation on behalf of the impacted rugby take parters was stuck in lterrible limbo in October last year after createer Wasps prop Will Green claimed that Ricdifficult Boardman of Rylands Garth helpd him to sign up to the litigation even after a second scan set up no signs of brain harm.
The Telegraph alerted that the firm’s try to force the 50-year-elderly to pay up was neglected in court, with the appraise ruling Rylands Garth misrecontransiented its services and a letter of joinment was “at very best, ambiguous, muddled and highly confusing”.
A joint statement from World Rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union and Rugby Football Union ahead of today’s case administerment hearing shelp: “Over the next two days, we aim to create unbenevolentingful progress in this lterrible action, four years after it was first startd. As rugby’s ruleing bodies, we remain promiseted to ensuring that the take parters’ troubles are heard in court as soon as possible. We hope that the claimants’ lawyers join in the hearing in the same spirit.
“Player welfare remains rugby’s top priority. Apass all levels of the game, welfare-centered alters to the laws are enhancing take parter getedty. Current elite take parters have access to cutting-edge technology and world-class medical nurture, whilst createer elite take parters in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Australia are advantageing from Brain Health Services we have set uped and that are set for expansion to more unions tardyr this year.”
