Legal aid

ISCIPLINARY HEARINGS used to be a sporadic irritation for club bosses. Now, you better be primed for combat in the courtroom. Pat Lam has seen three of his Bristol players summoned by the beak in recent months but fortunately he didn’t have to look far for legal representation. Dave Attwood, an aspiring solicitor advocate, is currently supplementing his excellent work in the second row with some vigorous defence in RFU tribunals.

Siale Piutau, Kyle Sinckler and Sam Bedlow have been the beneficiaries and, if RW’s interview with Attwood is anything to go by, they couldn’t have a more diligent counsel. The former England lock, studying part-time at uni for a law diploma, is even employing his own lecturers to keep on top of his legal studies. On Thursdays and Fridays, he has a two-hour session at 5am with a teacher in Sri Lanka. He’s also engaged a London-based expert on European law.

Representing rugby team-mates is a way to gain experience and it goes down well