Former England and Leicester back-row Lewis Moody has said he was aware of the danger involved in playing rugby but the joy that came from his career outweighed any risk.
Moody won 71 caps for England, was a British and Irish Lion and won Premiership and European titles with Leicester Tigers.
Since retiring, the 47-year-old has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), a condition that damages nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing muscles to weaken and waste away.
While there is no proven link between rugby and MND, a number of ex-players have been diagnosed. Former Scotland international Doddie Weir and ex-rugby league player Rob Burrow both died as a result of MND.
“I do think 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,” Moody said to the BBC in a new documentary — Ben Youngs Investigates: How Safe Is Rugby?
“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.”
There is evidence to suggest that low oxygen levels during periods of intense exercise damages motor neurone cells. MND can be found in patients due to both genetic and environmental factors.
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Despite the lack of evidence linking MND with rugby as a sport, the number of high-profile cases in ex-players has led to the public associating the two.
“I don’t get frustrated by it,” Moody said.
“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.
“The only link and connection to MND and sport is around extreme exertion. There are research papers out there that talk about the connections. “If you speak to the scientists or clinicians in this space, there are multiple reasons MND occurs. It’s not one thing.”
