DAN HAYES MEETS JONATHAN HALL, WHOSE VERSATILE SKILLS GIVE THE RFU THE MOMENTUM TO MOVE FORWARDIf the words Rugby Football Union (RFU) evoke any image at all, it is probably one of bluff, red-faced gentlemen in the West Stand at Twickenham, loudly discussing the minutiae of line-outs and scrummages.Such stereotypes, while they still endure, are less prevalent than they once were.

Rugby has embraced professionalism apace, and the RFU's 33-year-old legal secretary, Jonathan Hall, says that his organisation is going places.He says: 'We recently put together a plan that sets out what our strategies are over an eight-year period, and how we can think about achieving them.

Most businesses have this sort of plan, but this is the first one the RFU has had.

When one reads it, that's when one realises how challenging and exciting the next few years are going to be.'The plan identifies problems, suggests potential solutions, and points towards what the RFU can achieve, he explains, adding: 'Our big aim is winning the World Cup in 2007.

That is the benchmark and everything really stems from that.

The basis of the idea is that we need a successful team at the top to generate the revenue, which is then ploughed back into the game both at top and bottom level.

I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that if England won the World Cup, rugby would just take off.' It may only have been in 1999 that the RFU saw the need for a full-time legal expert, but Mr Hall's job specification is now so varied that he has to be something of a utility player.'I effectively wear three hats: legal, personnel and council services,' he says.

'I am the in-house lawyer here, there isn't anyone else - all I have is a PA.

I do a typical in-house lawyer's job albeit with a particular bent towards sport and rugby.

I am also in charge of the personnel department.

By and large, I leave my personnel manager and his team to do their jobs, and they only come to me when there is a problem.' With regard to council services, Mr Hall deals with a situation that is unique to the RFU.

'The union is made up of different bodies that have member clubs.

In effect, these are the counties, and each has one or more representatives on the RFU council.'This organisation is around 60 strong and it delegates much of its day-to-day work to a management board, with the RFU's council services department providing administration, advice and assistance.Mr Hall says: 'Because of the nature of the organisation, that is actually quite a sizeable job.

It is important that it runs smoothly because the majority of the people on the council and the management board are elected members who have other jobs or are retired.

They rely very much on us to do the admin function.'While his role may be broad-based, Mr Hall began his career in a conventional manner, doing his training at City firm Baker & MacKenzie before moving to an in-house legal post at sports management firm IMG.

'Being a sports nut I had a fantastic time there,' he says.

'If this job hadn't come along, I would have been happy to have stayed.'It also gave him a good grounding for his current role.

He adds: 'The key skills here are a strong knowledge of contract and commercial.

A lot of the work we do here is based on contracts: sponsorship agreements, employment agreements and joint-venture agreements.'Employment law knowledge is also required, although we do go outside for expertise.

Another area I need a good understanding of is intellectual property, because of all the sponsorship rights.'Outside the strictly legal skill-set, Mr Hall maintains that another facgtor is key not only to his own position, but to that of any in-house lawyer - communication.

'One is surrounded by people who do not have legal expertise.

One has to be able to translate legal advice into something meaningful, so one's colleagues know what to do with it.

It is all very well knowing what the law is, but if you cannot communicate it and make people understand what they have to do, it is no use.'Today, probably the main area where advice of a legal nature is likely to be communicated pertains to the relationship between the RFU, the premiership clubs, and the latter's professional players.

This debate goes back to 1996, when the game became professional.

Then, almost everyone working in rugby was slow to realise what would be involved, most notably perhaps with respect to club and country.Mr Hall says: 'Currently, we have a tripartite agreement between the union, the clubs and the players.

Release periods are agreed, whereby the clubs release their players to play in international matches, and that has worked pretty well.'Having said that, it is one of the things that the clubs and the players now say we should think about changing.

I think we would agree with that, and we're having discussions at the moment.'It seems both players and clubs are keen to restructure the professional game and various issues have come to the fore.

Mr Hall says: 'These include how the professional game is managed - whether it could be more streamlined, what the RFU itself needs to get involved in, contracting of players, who benefits and in what form from the international game, and how the professional game links into the amateur game.'This last poi nt is more crucial than it may initially appear.

He adds: 'The professional game can only survive if the amateur game is supported, because ultimately the majority of supporters are either amateur players, or have links to local rugby clubs.'As to the professional game, and its associated financial issues, Mr Hall says that lawyers may be called in more often than they ought to be.

He explains: 'There is a tendency in rugby to over-lawyer things.

Some people seem to go to their lawyers at the first sight of a problem, when in fact if they sat down and thought things out pragmatically, they would be able to save themselves a lot of time and money.'Other issues that can make their way into Mr Hall's in-tray are as varied as arrangements for television rights, the planning of on-pitch classical concerts, and the provision of a post-match drinks licence for the Twickenham ground.With such an array of responsibilities he does find himself turning to outside lawyers for assistance - City firm Denton Wilde Sapte, which has a leading sports law group, and Lincoln's Inn practice Edwin Coe, are the RFU's two firms 'of record'.'Dentons do the majority of our larger work: the planning, the licensing, the club and player contracts,' Mr Hall says.

'Edwin Coe has worked for the RFU for many years, and is very strong on the constitution.

I tend to use them now for my overflow work also.

If I really don't have time to do something and it is a fairly small job, I tend to send it to them.

They understand the RFU very well.'Workload notwithstanding, Mr Hall seems more than happy with his lot, and convinced that his is a job with a lot to recommend it.

'It's challenging because - as a game - we're still trying to tidy ourselves up from when we went professional.

It's exciting because everyone can see that if all goes well, then the sky's the limit.'There is so much more that we can do to make the game successful, and at the moment we are doing pretty well.

If we get our act together we'll do even better.'JEREMY FLEMING DESCRIBES THE SCRUM OF FIRMS WHO PRODUCE REFEREES AND LEGAL ADVICEUndoubtedly the most famous ruby-related solicitor is Brian Moore, the former England hooker who went by the nickname 'Pitbull' -- no doubt useful in litigation too.A one-time partner at now defence City firm Edward Lewis, Mr Moore has left the profession, leaving England scrum-half Kyran Bracken as probably the leading rugby player who is also qualified as a solicitor.Mr Bracken is a consultant at south-west law firm Clarke Willmott & Clarke, where former Alsters partner David Powell has a strong reputation in rugby work.

The firm acts for England players Julian White and Martin Corry, Wales captain Mark Taylor, Ireland international Paul Wallace, and Bath Rugby Club's players.Mr Powell also advises the British Lions squad -- last week he finalised an agreed contract of all 37 members of the squad.

He was appointed to the board of the Professional Rugby Players Association (PRA) in 1998, and acts for the PRA in negotiations surrounding the new joint venture company Premier Rugby, formed by players and clubs.Simon Cohen of Manchester firm Davis Blank Funiss is another big name in rugby's legal world.

Among others, he acts as an agent for England players Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Dawson, Wales player Dai Young, Ireland's Conor O'Shea, and Scotland's Doddie Weir and Gary Armstrong.

As a solicitor, he acts for the Lions captain Martin Johnson, and recently acted for Canadian Cardiff flanker Dan Baugh in reducing the term of his ban -- for kicking somebody in the head - from 12 games to six.Though he used to play centre for Macclesfield's fifth XV 'when it was very short of players', Mr Cohen is no relative of Northampton and England winger Ben Cohen, though he does do some legal work for him.City firms SJ Berwin & Co also a growing pedigree in rugby.

Jonathan Metliss heads up the sports business group, which acts for rival clubs Harlequins and Saracens, and Oxford and Cambridge universities' teams.

The firm deals with legal issues surrounding the staging of the latter's annual varsity match.

Partner Peter McInerney at SJ Berwin is closely involved in Welsh rugby, acting for the legendary former Wales and Lions outside-half Gareth Davies, and giving broadcasting advice to S4C (the Welsh Channel 4).The firm has also produced a guide to players contracts, and has a team of rugby specialists: Nicola Kerr gives advice on rugby employment contracts, David Rose advises on intellectual property and Simon Ricketts is a stadium expert.More judicially, several solicitors -- especially in Wales -- have made a name as rugby referees, such as Chris Nott, a partner at Cardiff firm Palser Grossman, Jeff Wright of Morgan Cole and Terry Vaux of Newport firm Hodson Parsons James & Vaux, who is chairman of the Welsh Rubgy Union's referees committee.