Steve Thompson reveals he CAN’T REMEMBER winning the World Cup with England

This was the day the rugby world was finally forced to wake up. When a 42-year-old World Cup-winner says his greatest triumph has already been wiped from his memory and he wishes he had never taken up the sport, surely ignorance is no longer an option.

This is Steve Thompson MBE, no less. The hooker played every game of the 2003 World Cup as Sir Clive Woodward’s heroes went on to beat hosts Australia in that unforgettable final in Sydney.

But just 17 years on and Thompson revealed on Tuesday that he had forgotten it all after being diagnosed with early onset dementia.

The former Lion says he sometimes cannot even remember the name of his wife.

‘I have no recollection of winning the World Cup in 2003 or of being in Australia for the tournament,’ said Thompson, who retired in 2011 after winning 73 caps.

‘I can’t remember any of the games whatsoever or anything that happens in those games. It’s like I’m watching the game with England playing and I can see me there, but I wasn’t there, because it’s not me.

‘You see us lifting the World Cup and I can see me there jumping around. But I can’t remember it.

‘It’s just bizarre. People talk about stories, and since the World Cup I’ve talked to the lads who were there, and you pick up stories, and then you can talk about it, but it’s not me being there, it’s not me doing it, because it’s just gone.’

Thompson blames rugby for his brain damage, which is why he is one of eight former players launching legal action against the RFU, World Rugby and the Welsh Rugby Union.

He is unable to count every concussion he suffered but says players were treated like ‘bits of meat’, particularly with the amount of full-contact training they did in the mid-1990s to early 2000s. It left him ‘seeing white spots’ and ‘dazed’. With England, he said players were ‘beasted’.

Thompson wishes he had chosen a different career path as he comes to terms with having permanent brain damage, and the impact it will have on wife Steph and his four young children.

As well as memory loss, he suffers panic attacks, mood swings and struggles with loud noises.

‘Knowing what I know now, I wish that I had never turned professional,’ he said. ‘I’d rather have just had a normal life. Would I do it again? No, I wouldn’t.

‘I really wished that I had ended my career earlier, maybe my diagnosis might not be so bleak. I didn’t meet my wife until 2011, and so she and the kids weren’t around for the heyday of the World Cup, yet they’re the ones who are going to have to pick up the pieces. I feel really guilty about that.

‘I rely a lot on Steph. Halfway through a conversation with her I might forget what we’re talking about and she will have to remind me, as will the kids.

‘I could look at Steph sometimes and she says it’s like I’m a complete blank. She’ll go, “I’m Steph”. The name’s gone.’

Thompson has also been diagnosed with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — a degenerative brain condition linked to repeated head injuries.

That was the disease which ex-footballer Jeff Astle was found to have died from, but has also been discovered in a number of former American footballers, leading to over 4,500 ex-NFL stars bringing class action against the league and winning a settlement worth around £700million in 2013.

Now rugby is getting in on the act. Thompson, ex-England flanker Michael Lipman and former Wales No 8 Alix Popham are the only three players named so far of the eight test cases.

Sportsmail understands that could increase to 11 next week, and the lawyer leading the action, Richard Boardman, is representing 110 players altogether. That’s just for starters.

The basis of their legal argument is that given the significant risk of serious or permanent brain damage caused by concussions, World Rugby, RFU and WRU ‘owed them, as individual professional players, a duty to take reasonable care for their safety by establishing and implementing rules in respect of the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of actual or suspected concussive and sub-concussive injuries’.

A letter of claim will be sent next week to the three governing bodies — and a group class action could follow.

‘We are now in a position where we believe the governing bodies across the rugby world are liable for failing to adequately protect their players on this particular issue,’ said Boardman.

‘Depending on how many people come forward, the case could be worth tens of millions, maybe even hundreds of millions. Right now we’re representing over 100 former players but we expect many more to get in contact. In short, it is an epidemic.’

Of the eight test cases currently confirmed, all are under the age of 45, played at the top level in England or Wales, and have been diagnosed with early onset dementia and probable CTE.

Boardman confirmed the group of 110 does not include anybody else from England’s starting XV in 2003, but ages range from their 20s to 50s, and all have shown symptoms of brain damage.

As well as seeking compensation for the repercussions they are suffering, the impact on their employment prospects and the cost of care, the players have presented a list of ‘15 commandments’ they say World Rugby should implement as a matter of urgency to make the sport safer. They include a limit to the amount of contact in training and better sideline concussion testing.

An RFU statement said: ‘The RFU has had no legal approach on this matter. 

‘The Union takes player safety very seriously and implements injury prevention and treatment strategies based on the latest research and evidence.

‘The Union has played an instrumental role in establishing injury surveillance, concussion education and assessment, collaborating on research as well as supporting law changes and law application to ensure proactive management of player welfare.’