Former Wallabies captain Lynagh ‘stable’ in hospital after stroke

Former Australia captain and 1991 rugby World Cup winner Michael Lynagh was last night in a stable condition in a Brisbane hospital after suffering an apparent stroke, the Queensland Rugby Union said.

The 48-year-old was admitted on Monday after becoming ill while visiting the city, the QRU said in a statement yesterday.

“Lynagh remains in a stabilised condition in the Royal Brisbane Hospital and is undergoing tests in an effort to discover the cause of the illness,” the QRU said.

Lynagh’s family had requested privacy, though news he had been hospitalised swept through social networking website Twitter, with current and former players sending their best wishes.

“Sad news about Michael Lynagh. Hoping he pulls through and back to full health,” Queensland Reds and Wallabies captain James Horwill said on his Twitter page.

Former Wallabies team-mate Tim Horan said that Lynagh “seems to be recovering well” and in a later posting yesterday said he was “up and walking” and undergoing an MRI.

Lynagh’s World Cup winning captain, Nick Farr-Jones, with whom he forged a potent half-back pairing for 47 tests, said he hoped the former stand-off would make a speedy recovery.

“I personally had the privilege to play alongside Michael for a decade and developed a great trust and friendship,” Farr-Jones, who is also the New South Wales Rugby Union chairman, said in a statement. “Michael is a fantastic person and a great team-mate, I am sure everyone in rugby will be supporting him, Isabella and their family at this time.”

Former Australian captain Andrew Slack had earlier told Australia’s Daily Telegraph Lynagh had been experiencing vision problems in one eye, which prompted his hospitalisation, and suggested that a long-haul flight from Britain may have contributed to the condition.

“He is in intensive care and that’s a measure to monitor him and to be in the right place, but more for them to actually work out precisely what is going on,” Slack was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “There is obviously some artery block somewhere. . . whether it is he has just come from the UK, it’s a long-haul flight and it is a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) thing. Or anything else. They’re not 100 per cent sure, so they’re monitoring him.”

The unflappable stand-off played 72 tests for the Wallabies and was instrumental in Australia winning the 1991 World Cup, with a match-winning try in their quarter-final against Ireland after they had conceded a late try and appeared destined to crash out of the tournament.

Lynagh retired from international rugby in 1995 with a then world record of 911 points and moved to London, where he played club rugby for Saracens.

He has remained in Britain since he stopped playing, carving out a successful business career and working as a television analyst.