Former England rugby union captain Lewis Moody has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The 47-year-old was part of the England squad that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup and went on to represent his country 71 times.
Moody said he hopes to remain relatively symptom-free for "as long as is possible", although he admitted the news came as a shock.
He is the latest former rugby player to be diagnosed with the condition.
MORE: 'I feel like nothing’s wrong,' says Lewis Moody after MND diagnosis
Lewis Moody MND diagnosis
In an interview published on October 6, 2025, Moody told BBC Sport that he discovered he had MND after noticing weakness in his shoulder during gym workouts. Scans showed nerve damage in his spinal cord and brain caused by MND.
"You're given this diagnosis of MND and we're rightly quite emotional about it, but it's so strange because I feel like nothing's wrong," Moody said. "I don't feel ill. I don't feel unwell
"My symptoms are very minor. I have a bit of muscle wasting in the hand and the shoulder. I'm still capable of doing anything and everything. And hopefully that will continue for as long as is possible."
What is motor neurone disease?
Motor neurone disease, also known as MND, is a muscle-wasting condition that gets worse over time. It affects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord that carry instructions to different muscles.
It is usually life-shortening and, although treatment can help to manage symptoms, there is currently no cure.
The MND Association charity says the disease kills a third of people within a year of diagnosis and more than half within two years. This is because swallowing and breathing become more difficult, compounded by problems with pooling saliva. As MND develops, speech and mobility degenerate.
In the UK, MND affects up to 5,000 adults. There is a one in 300 risk of getting MND during a lifetime and it is more likely to affect adults over the age of 50.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common form of MND. The other three forms are progressive bulbar palsy (PBP), progressive muscular atrophy (PMA) and primary lateral sclerosis (PLS). PLS progresses very slowly and is not usually life-shortening.
Which rugby players have MND?
Moody's diagnosis follows the deaths of fellow former rugby players Doddie Weir and Rob Burrow (pictured below) from motor neurone disease.
Ed Slater, a former team-mate of Moody's at Leicester Tigers, was diagnosed with MND in 2022, aged 33.
Several studies have suggested professional athletes are more susceptible to suffering with MND. Ex-Liverpool and Bradford City footballer Stephen Darby was diagnosed aged 29, while former England cricketer David 'Syd Lawrence died in 2022, just a year after his diagnosis.
New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig died from the condition in 1941, aged 37. In the United States, ALS is often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Focusing specifically on rugby, researchers at Durham University in 2024 found that players who had suffered five or more concussions during their careers had higher levels of certain proteins in their blood linked to conditions including MND.
This echoed a 2022 study by the University of Glasgow that worked with 400 former rugby union players and found they had a heightened MND risk.
The MND Association acknowledges this correlation between MND and contact sports but is keen to note this does not necessarily imply causation.
The charity said: "Reported MND cases in these studies are still relatively low, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is simply a cluster due to random chance."
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Lewis Moody rugby career, trophies, honours
Along with the other members of Clive Woodward's victorious squad, Moody's success at the 2003 World Cup is the standout moment of a heavily decorated career.
In the same year, England won the Grand Slam, one of three Six Nations Championship successes for Moody as a player.
He won 71 caps for England and captained his country at the 2011 World Cup, after which he announced his international retirement. Moody also won three Test caps for the British and Irish Lions on the 2005 tour of New Zealand. A solitary try in the third Test against the All Blacks sits along nine for England for the back-row forward.
Moody starred for Leicester Tigers at a time when they were the dominant force in English rugby, winning seven Premiership titles between 1999 and 2010, along with back-to-back European Cups in 2001 and 2002.