Lewis Moody has opened up about his battle with motor neurone disease, struggling to hold back tears whilst discussing his diagnosis with former team-mate Ben Youngs. The ex-England rugby union captain revealed his MND diagnosis back in October.

The 47-year-old learned he had MND after noticing weakness in his shoulder during gym training. Physiotherapy proved ineffective in resolving the issue, before scans revealed that nerves in his brain and spinal cord had sustained damage. Over £200,000 has been raised on the GoFundMe page established by his friends and former Leicester Tigers team-mates Geordan Murphy and Leon Lloyd, to support the former flanker and his family. In a recent sit-down with Youngs, Moody shed further light on his struggles with MND and how his understanding of the condition has grown in recent times.

Youngs featured in a BBC documentary, ‘Ben Youngs Investigates: How Safe Is Rugby?’, released this week, which explored the connection between concussion and long-term brain health. As part of the investigation, Moody joined Youngs to share his perspective.

“It’s almost an unanswerable question,” he said when asked how life has been since his announcement. “It’s just been up and down, full of uncertainty and also full of unbelievable love and support.”

He continued when asked about his knowledge of MND beforehand: “I remember watching Rob’s [Burrow] charity game where he came on and played, then my next memories of Rob of him just being in the chair and completely constrained in his own body. I didn’t know much about it, but I’m learning more because you have to.”

The conversation then became deeply moving as Moody discussed the dangers inherent in rugby. “I do think I was very aware of the risks that rugby presented, when you go and smash yourself into another human being week in week out.

“I would do it again, I loved it. I have the life now, the peace, the happiness, the family, the existence, because of what I got to do for a living,” he said, pausing momentarily as he fought back tears.

Following Youngs’ support for his former colleague, Moody went on: “Emotions are always close to the surface. Just enjoying gratitude that I got to enjoy doing something that I absolutely loved.”

Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings

Both men became visibly moved whilst addressing the potential connection between MND and the game. “Like with everything in the MND world, there is only one certainty and that’s everything is uncertain pretty much,” Moody stated.

“That’s why I’m learning. No-one’s certain why it happens, no-one’s certain about how to resolve it, the only certainty is that we’re moving in the right direction and they feel like a cure is the wrong word, a symptom repression is round the corner at some stage.

“I’d really like to use my platform for as big of a positive impact that I can. I’ve lived a life in retirement supporting others in that charitable world, I’m not going to stop doing it now just because I’m now on the end of one of them horrible..”

Moody then paused before Youngs was compelled to step away from the camera, with footage subsequently capturing him gazing into the distance whilst wiping away tears.