The IRFU has led tributes to former Leinster and Ireland coach Roly Meates following his death on Wednesday after a long illness.
Meates was hailed for a "lifetime service to Irish rugby", played as a prop for Dublin University, Wanderers and Leinster.
A dentist by profession, he caught the coaching bug at Trinity - where he was involved in preparing teams between 1966 and 1996 - and then for two different five-year periods at Leinster’s helm.
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He coached Ireland between 1975 and 1977, including the comeback win over England at Twickenham in 1976.
The Dubliner was later chairman of the Ireland selection committee, overseeing the 1982 Triple Crown success and also made his mark as a scrum coach with Leinster, while he also held scrum clinics across the province.
Meates’ coaching spells also saw him take charge of the President’s XV, Wolfhounds, Combined Provinces and Irish Universities teams down through the years.
As an administrator, Meates served as president of the Leinster Branch in the 1968/69 season - while at the same time coaching the province’s first ever Under-19 team. He was a member of the IRFU’s Rugby Committee from 1972 to 1984.
In the early 1990s, he spent time as President of the Irish Universities Rugby Union and Chairman of the IRFU Amateur Status and Medical Committees. He was also a trustee of the IRFU Charitable Trust.
In addition, he had the honour of being President of his two clubs, DUFC (1992/93) and Wanderers (2001/02), and made history as the first Honorary Member of Dublin University Football Club.
A Leinster Rugby Special Merit award winner on his retirement in 2007, he received the Tom Rooney award from the Rugby Writers of Ireland the following year for his exceptional contribution to Irish rugby, which saw him become one of the foremost scrum coaches in world rugby.
Tributes from Leinster and the IRFU signed off with "our sincere condolences to Heather, his family and wide circle of friends as we fondly remember a true legend of Leinster and Irish rugby.”
