Tributes have been paid to a rugby club stalwart following his "sudden" death at the age of 49.
Mark Pritchard was described as a "rugby man" by those who knew him who captained his beloved Tonyrefail RFC for many years.
The former second-rower and back-rower became involved in coaching the junior and youth sets up, and was deeply admired by those in the club.
Read more: Family pay tribute to "NHS hero" who died following crash
In a Facebook post, a spokesman from Tonyrefail RFC said: "Both Tonyrefail RFC and Gilfach RFC are extremely saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Mark Pritchard.
"Mark played for Tonyrefail for many years before hanging his boots up and then dedicating his time to the development of junior and youth rugby.
"Most recently Mark followed his youngest son Isaac to Gilfach and threw himself 100% into coaching the youth side.
"All our thoughts from both clubs are with Janette, Harrison, Issac and Mollie at this very sad time."
Describing Mark, chairman of Tonyrefail RFC's youth and junior teams Stuart Price said he was a "larger than life character".
He added: "He was a bit of a legend to be honest. He played all of his rugby for Tonyrefail, he captained the seniors, he captained the youth and went on to coach the juniors section. He will be sadly missed...
"Wherever he went he made a success of it. It's gutting to be honest, he was Tonyrefail out and out as a player for years and whenever he walked in the club you couldn't miss him because he was 6ft 4in and 18 to 19 stone.
"It's just such a loss, all his family play for the club. He was Tonyrefail born and bred."
To get the latest WalesOnline newsletters emailed to you directly for free click here.
