Nine seconds of silence followed Ben Youngs’ question. “Did you ever see a risk to playing rugby?” His former teammate, Lewis Moody, paused before responding. The question, posed in a new BBC documentary, Ben Youngs Investigates: How Safe Is Rugby?, cuts to the heart of a growing debate surrounding the sport’s long-term health consequences.
Moody, 47, played alongside Youngs at the highest levels of the game, earning 71 caps for England and touring with the British and Irish Lions. He was a key figure in a dominant Leicester Tigers team, renowned for a relentlessly physical style of play. That commitment earned him the nickname “Mad Dog” from teammates and supporters, a testament to his disregard for personal safety in pursuit of victory.
Reflecting on his career, Moody acknowledged the inherent dangers of the sport. “I do suppose I was very aware of the risks rugby presented, when you go and smash yourself into another human being week in week out, day in day out,” he said in the documentary. “I think I was acutely aware of the risks that come with injury and concussion, but I was happy that the reward and the joy of playing the sport far outweighed any of those. I enjoyed what I did so much that I was prepared to put up with that, and I would do again. I loved it… I absolutely loved it.”
That love, however, is now shadowed by a devastating diagnosis. Last year, Moody was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), a progressive and incurable condition that affects the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. He is not alone. Several former rugby players have received the same diagnosis, raising concerns about a potential link between the sport and the disease.
Rugby league legend Rob Burrow died in June 2024 after a battle with MND. Scotland international Doddie Weir and former Springbok Joost van der Westhuizen as well succumbed to the condition in recent years. Ed Slater, a former Leicester Tigers teammate of Moody’s, retired in July 2022 after being diagnosed with MND.
While there is currently no definitive scientific evidence proving a causal link between rugby and MND, the clustering of cases has prompted intense scrutiny. Research suggests that extreme exertion, such as that experienced by elite athletes, may contribute to the development of the disease in individuals with genetic predispositions or other risk factors. Scientists believe low levels of oxygen during intense exercise could damage motor neurone cells.
Moody is aware of the public perception linking rugby to MND. “I don’t get frustrated by it,” he stated. “It is an easy assumption to make, because you have had a couple of high-profile rugby players with MND, that playing rugby makes you more likely to get MND. But that is not the truth.” He emphasized that the connection lies in extreme exertion, not rugby specifically, and that multiple factors contribute to the development of MND.
Ben Youngs, England’s most-capped men’s player, initiated the BBC documentary to investigate the safety of the sport, spurred by his own concerns and the experiences of former teammates like Moody. The documentary airs on BBC One on March 3, 2026, and is available on iPlayer.
