Rugby icon, 47, insists he will NOT see a doctor – despite heartbreakingly revealing he cannot remember a ‘single match’ from glittering career

• The star chalked up 62 caps for France before retiring from the game in 2014
• He is convinced his memory will never return but is ‘rediscovering life’ at 47

By LUKE POWER and BEN WILLCOCKS

A rugby icon insists he will not see a doctor despite suffering from tragic memory loss after a storied career.

Legendary former France star Sebastien Chabal said he cannot remember a ‘single match’ from his glittering playing days in a heartbreaking interview this week. 

Chabal, 47, chalked up 62 caps for France and starred for domestic clubs Bourgoin, Sale Sharks, Racing Metro and Lyon.

He is not the only one to suffer such consequences, and more than 560 former players are suing the sport’s governing bodies, blaming rugby for crippling brain injuries after suffering repeated blows to the head.

Ex-France forward Chabal shared how he has been suffering from memory problems since calling time on his career in 2014, speaking on the YouTube show ‘Legend’.

‘I don’t remember a single second of a rugby match I’ve played. And I don’t remember a single one of the 62 Marseillaises (France’s national anthem) I’ve experienced,’ he said.

Rugby legend Sebastien Chabal says he will not see a doctor despite battling with memory loss

Chabal, 47, chalked up 62 caps for France during a glittering career he now can’t remember

England’s World Cup winners Phil Vickery (left) and Steve Thompson (centre) are among the 560 former rugby players to have signed up to the concussion class action since 2022

‘I don’t talk about it, because it’s just my business, but there are quite a few actions that are carried out by former players, in teams, because we’ve taken a hit on the helmet. There’s the pate that hit the marrow. 

‘I don’t remember anything. Sometimes I say to my wife, “Actually, I wasn’t the one who played rugby”.’

Chabal admitted in the interview that there is little he can do now to improve his memory, insisting that it ‘won’t return’.

‘Why bother? My memory won’t return,’ he said, when asked if he goes to the doctor about it. ‘I’m rediscovering my life. Before playing rugby, I never realised that I don’t remember anything.’

Other former players are more positive about potential recovery. Ex-Wales star Alix Popham revealed the life-changing impact experimental brain treatment in Mexico in 2023 has had on him following his devastating CTE diagnosis in April 2020. 

‘Things are a lot better. I don’t lose my train of thought anywhere near as much,’ Popham said after the treatment.  

Players suffering from neurological conditions such as early-onset dementia and Alzheimer’s has been an ongoing talking point in the sport over the past few years.

In 2022, a group of 185 lawyers sued rugby’s governing bodies for negligence, alleging that playing in the sport for numerous years caused brain damage.

England’s World Cup winners Phil Vickery and Steve Thompson are among the 560 former players to have signed up to the class action against rugby authorities.

Mail Sport reported last month that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and significant technological advances are leading to hope that the treatment of head injuries and the management of concussion in rugby – as well as across professional sport – can be revolutionised.

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Rugby icon, 47, insists he will NOT see a doctor – despite heartbreakingly revealing he cannot remember a ‘single match’ from glittering career

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