CTE. Concussions. Head knocks. Rugby's about to face its biggest legal test yet regarding the residual effects of repeated head injuries, a cabal of 70+ ex-international players ready to sue World Rugby and the Welsh and English unions led by a group of eight players already diagnosed with early on-set dementia.

Their argument is that repeated blows to the head are to blame for their collective plight, citing negligence and a (then) lack of player education from the game's governing bodies. How this unfolds in court, if it ever gets there, is anyone's guess. (It may be one of those big messy cases that both parties find far easier to settle out of court). But the long term implications of any decisions made will re-write how rugby is forever played. I'm not so sure the sport is any safer today than it ever was.

Yes the rules are being constantly tweaked to protect the head and yes there's infinitely more awareness around everything player safety but it's still a high velocity full-impact body collision game where large powerful people deliberately collide at speed against similarly sized and determined opponents. Meaning the recipe is for injury. At some stage EVERYONE gets injured. And if you think you can have a whole career playing these sorts of  sports and not get injured then maybe, with all due respect, you need a quick HIA yourself.

For players from the above era there was a macho bravado about playing on when injured. The old "I couldn't remember the second half" was a regular comment at every post-match presser. And one that always got a laugh. Now I'm damn sure not one of them deep down thought it was a good  thing to be continuously concussed, but did it ever stop anyone from continuing to play? And this is where the whole issue gets even murkier. How much is personal responsibility and how much is professional? Surely there has to be an element of both. It's a bit like smoking. Every person choking a gasper knows it isn't good for their health. Is the evil tobacco company entirely to blame or does it also come back to self?