Chat following rugby player's ailment (7)
I believe the answer is:
lockjaw
'ailment' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both states of affairs as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'chat following rugby player's' is the wordplay.
'chat' becomes 'jaw' (synonyms).
'following' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'rugby player' becomes 'lock' (second row of a scrum).
'jaw' put after 'lock' is 'LOCKJAW'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lockjaw that I've seen before include "Symptom of tetanus" , "disease resulting" , "Popular name for tetanus" , "Graphic word for tetanus" , "Serious condition" .)