Steve Thompson makes ‘blood on their hands’ concussion claim as Ben Youngs admits he’d deal with ‘consequences after’

Former England hooker Steve Thompson has revealed that he will not allow his children to play rugby, following his early-onset dementia diagnosis.

Appearing on the BBC documentary, Ben Youngs Investigates: How Safe Is Rugby?, Thompson claimed that certain members of the rugby world have “blood on their hands”.

The former hooker, alongside over 1,100 former professional and amateur rugby union and league players, is currently involved in a major class action lawsuit against World Rugby, the RFU, and the WRU, over allegations that the governing bodies failed to protect them from developing neurological conditions in later life.

Thompson has regularly complained of issues related to memory loss, including his inability to remember being involved in England’s 2003 World Cup win. Speaking about his time in Australia in 2003, the former Northampton Saints star claimed that he now has no “emotional attachment” to the victory, alleging that when watching the footage, it feels to him like watching someone else. 

“Think of your head as a camera,” Thompson said. “You’re taking stuff in, but this SD card’s damaged. There’s nothing in the memory bank; that’s gone.”

How rugby has developed

But what’s caused this degenerative brain disease in the 47-year-old? Well, Thompson believes the training field had a major impact.

“We were doing two training sessions a day, and some of it would go on for hours, just knocking the hell out of each other, to the point people were knocked out, and they’d go ‘let’s just move that over there while they sort themselves out.'”

Admitting that in one training session, he was subjected to roughly 100 scrums, it fits the claim by former Welsh flanker Alix Popham that “80% of the damage was done in training.”

Former Leicester Tigers star Tom Croft also recalled the harsh expectations from coaches and colleagues during his time on the field, claiming that injuries and head knocks were expected to be treated with a quick dose of ibuprofen and paracetamol.

Garry Ringrose, now famously, flagged his own concussion just days before appearing in what should have been his first-ever Lions Test, ultimately rendering him ineligible for the rest of the tour.

Refered to by Ben Youngs as “the ultimate example of culture shift around concussion”, Croft explained that if it had happened on the 2005 or 2009 tour, Ringrose would have been called “soft” and asked “what the hell are you doing?”

The Irish centre decided to protect his brain health over a chance to play in a Lions Test, but not all players would do the same. Anthony Watson, in the same documentary, controversially admitted to ‘cheating’ his way through a Head Injury Assessment in order to remain eligible for selection in 2017.

So, how much safer can we make the game without taking away from its core values, and who ultimately needs to take responsibility for the players’ safety? Is it the players themselves who acknowledge the risks, or does someone take responsibility away from the players?

Ben Youngs, even now, admits that he would struggle to speak up and prioritise his health if it meant jeopardising an opportunity.

“If I felt symptoms during a week, and it’s the World Cup final in 2019, I’m not saying anything. I’ll play, and I’ll deal with the consequences after.

“It’s individual. It’s how I see it. It’s different to how Anthony Watson saw it when he got knocked out, to how Gary Ringrose saw it. We all see it from our own perspective, from our own feelings and connection towards the game.”

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Dealing with depression

With less concern over neurological health during his playing days, Thompson is now struggling with emotional challenges as a result of his diagnosis.

“As a dad, you want to be like, ‘you’re big, you’re the strong one’, and all of a sudden you’re in bits, you’re all over the place. You can’t sometimes get out of bed.

“When I was younger, I was one of those people, if someone kills themselves, ‘what’s that all about?’ When you’re there, you start thinking, ‘it’s the best thing for everyone else’.

“I was at the train station, I just thought, I’ve had enough of this now. It was quite good for once the train was late, because I managed to get hold of Steph. And I was talking to Steph. She’s talking to me over the phone, she was like, ‘look, you need to be around’.

Thompson is clear about what he believes needs to happen next.

“Do I want it to go to court? No, I don’t really. But people need to be held accountable. There are people out there who’ve got blood on their hands.”

READ MORE: Ex-England star justifies cheating the system and calls on players to ‘take responsibility’