Neil Hallett (born 1980) is a retired

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who played at either full-back,

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Neil is a coach at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

. An excellent kicker, Hallett is best known for his time at

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...

where he scored over 1,300 points for the club in all competitions, and he is also one of the most prolific scorers in tier 3 history (2nd all-time as of 2016-17) with over 1,400 league points scored from his time spent with at four different clubs including Esher and

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the current champions of the RFU Championship but will remain in that league due to ineligibility for promotion to Premi ...

. As well as playing club rugby Hallett has also captained

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

(winning three

County Championship Shield The Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 (formerly County Championship Shield) is an annual rugby union competition in England between teams representing English counties. It was formed in 2005 when it known as the County Championship Pl ...

titles) and been capped by the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

and

England Counties XV England Counties XV is a representative rugby union team, formed in 2002, open to English players who play in the County Championship and the third tier (and below) of the English rugby union system. Players from the Premiership and RFU Champi ...

Career

Club career

After starting his career at Rosslyn Park, Hallett moved to fellow

National 2 National 2 might refer to: * Curriculum for Excellence, Scottish education * Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competi ...

side,

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...

, mid-way through the 2002-03 season in order to gain first team rugby. It was at Bracknell that he came to prominence, enjoying an outstanding 2003-04 season which saw him come 3rd top scorer in the division with 239 points helping his side to a very respectable 7th-place finish. Despite starting the 2004-05 season with Bracknell, after just 4 games Hallett decided to join divisional rivals,

. It proved to be the correct decision as by the end of the season Bracknell were relegated while Esher (just) managed to stay up, with Hallett's kicking contributing greatly to his new club's survival. The period between 2005-07 was Halletts best at Esher, finishing as the divisions top scorer twice (with 302 and 398 points respectively) and culminating in the Surrey club winning the league title and promotion at the end of the 2006-07 campaign. He helped the club survive several years in tier 2 but a change to the divisional structure at the end of the 2008-09 season involving the creation of the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

meant that Esher were relegated back to tier 3 despite finishing in 12th spot. In the summer of 2010, despite having a bit-part role in Esher's promotion from National League 1 to the Championship, Hallett decided to leave the club to join

, playing two divisions below in

National League 2 South National League 2 South (known before September 2009 as National Division Three South) was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, N ...

. Back enjoying first team rugby, Hallett was part of an excellent Trailfinders side that stormed to the title, contributing 337 points in a side that included the prolific

Phil Chesters Phil Chesters (born 29 October 1987) is an English rugby union player who is currently playing for Chinnor in National League 1 having signed for the club for the 2017-18 season. Prior to that he had made his name at Ealing Trailfinders where h ...

who scored a record-breaking 70 tries that year. He spent a further season at the club as they just missed out on a successive promotion to

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

before deciding to join London regional side

as a player-coach for the 2012-13 season, combining playing with teaching at

Wimbledon College Wimbledon College is a government-maintained, voluntary-aided, Jesuit Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form for boys aged 11 to 19 in Wimbledon, London. The college was founded in 1892 "for improvement in living and learning for the g ...

. He would play the final years of his career at Wimbledon, helping them to the

London 1 South London 1 South was an English level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in London and the south-east of England including sides from East Sussex, south Essex, south Greater London, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex. When this di ...

title in 2015 before retiring at the end of the 2016-17 season, having helped his promoted side to a mid-table finish in

National League 3 London & SE Regional 1 South East (up until 2022-23 known as London & South East Premier and up until 2016-17 known as National League 3 London & South East) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. ...

Representative career

Following an excellent debut season with

, Hallett was selected for the

squad taking part in the 2005 County Plate (now Shield) competition. He took his good form into the competition that summer, helping his county to qualify from the group stage which included a man-of-the-match performance in the 38-22 win against Dorset & Wilts, scoring 28 points. After winning their semi-final fixture, Surrey faced

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in the

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

final. Having already beaten the south-west side in the group stages, Surrey once again proved too strong, Hallett contributing 9 points from the boot as he helped his side to their first taste of County Championship silverware since 1971. His performances at club and county drew the interest of the

who included Hallett in their 2006 tour. He made his Barbarians debut in the last game of the tour, contributing a try and conversion and being named man-of-the-match as his side won 28-19 against the Georgian national team in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

in June. Further call-ups to the Barbarians would follow the next season, with appearances against the Combined Services,

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

and British Army to follow, although he would fail to score any further points for the Ba-Baas. In February 2007 he also made his

debut, scoring 10 points in a 17-20 loss against an Irish Club XV at Donnybrook. A second Counties appearance followed in March, with Hallet contributing 21 points, including 2 tries, as England Counties beat France Amateurs 41-10 at the

Rectory Field Rectory Field is a sports ground in Blackheath in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. It was developed in the 1880s by Blackheath Cricket, Football and Lawn Tennis Company and became the home ground of rugby union team Blackheath ...

. Towards the end of his career playing at

, Hallett was still very much involved with the Surrey County side. He was called up to take part in his counties

2013 County Championship Shield The 2013 County Championship Shield was the 9th version of the annual English rugby union County Championship, organized by the RFU for the tier 3 English counties. Each county drew its players from rugby union clubs from the fifth tier and be ...

campaign (formerly known as the plate) and was made captain. Despite being in the twilight of his career, Hallet showed that class was permanent, contributing 61 points including 3 tries as Surrey stormed their way through to the final. At Twickenham Surrey managed to overcome a resolute

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

21-16, with Hallett's 11 points, including 3 penalties, proving to be vital as his county won their second Shield title. The following season, Hallett would return to county action for the last team, captaining newly promoted in the 2014 County Championship Plate competition. Once again Hallet was outstanding as Surrey went on to win the Plate competition, contributing 73 points overall. He saved his strongest performance for the final with a massive 24 points including 6 penalties helping Surrey overcome

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

39-16.

Season-by-season playing stats

Club

County/Representative

Honours and records

Esher *

National Division 2 National Division 2 is the fourth tier of rugby league in France, below the National Division 1. The season runs from September to April. The Division is split into 5 regional leagues, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenees, Aquitaine, Ile de France ...

top points scorer (2): 2005-06 (302 points), 2006-07 (398 points) *

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

champions (2): 2006-07, 2009-10 Ealing Trailfinders *

champions: 2010-11 Wimbledon *

champions: 2014-15 Barbarians *Capped 4 times: 2005-07 Surrey *

winners (2): 2005,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

County Championship Plate The Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 2 (formerly known as County Championship Plate) is an annual rugby union competition in England between teams representing English counties. It was formed in 2002 as the County Championship Shield ...

winners:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Notes

References

External links

England RFUBarbarian FCSurrey RFURosslyn Park FCBracknell RFCEsher RFCEaling TrailfindersWimbledon RFC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallett, Neil 1980 births Living people Barbarian F.C. players English rugby union players Esher RFC players Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Sportspeople from Hammersmith Rugby union players from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham