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.
The background
The wider group litigation comprises approximately
