Former England captain and 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Lewis Moody has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

The 47-year-old told the BBC of his diagnosis on Monday, two weeks after being given the news.

“There’s something about looking the future in the face and not wanting to really process that at the minute,” he said.

“It’s not that I don’t understand where it’s going. We understand that. But there is absolutely a reluctance to look the future in the face for now.”

Ex-Scotland rugby international Doddie Weir and former Great Britain rugby league Test player Rob Burrow have died from the illness in recent years.

AFL great Neale Daniher, the 2025 Australian of the Year, has been a prominent advocate for medical research concerning the disease after being diagnosed in 2013.

“Yo

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