Former France international Sébastien Chabal has said he has “no memories” from his international rugby career, potentially as a result of concussions.
“I don’t remember a single second of a rugby match I played,” Chabal said in an interview published Wednesday on YouTube channel Legend. “I don’t remember a single one of the 62 Marseillaises [the French national anthem] I experienced.” Chabal played 62 times for France, mainly as a back-row forward, from 2000 until 2011.
Chabal, who didn’t mention the word “concussion” during the interview, said he has not consulted a neurologist. “What would you do, my memory won’t return,” he said, adding he also no longer remembers the birth of his daughter.
A group of nearly 300 former players, including England World Cup winners Steve Thompson and Phil Vickery, launched legal action over brain injuries in December 2023. The players allege World Rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union and the RFU failed to establish reasonable measures to protect their health and safety. Thompson and ex-Wales star Alix Popham have both revealed they suffer from early-onset dementia.
Injuries from head blows are said to have caused disorders such as motor neurone disease, early onset dementia, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
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