Legendary Penryn and Falmouth rugby player, coach Dave Thomas has died aged 83.

Known by his nickname 'Benji', he passed away, after a short illness, surrounded by his family, on Thursday 10th February 2022.

He will be remembered as the successful Cornwall coach on a famous day at Twickenham in 1991 when Cornwall defeated Yorkshire by 29 points to 20, after extra time, to lift the ADT County Championship Trophy.

Cornwall Rugby Football Union (CRFU) President Dave Martin announced the "sad death" of the legendary coach and a very fine player.

Aside from being the coach of Cornwall in 1991, he was part of the Penryn side of the 1960s that dominated local rugby.

Educated at Falmouth Grammar School and Cardiff College of Education, he also played for Berkshire, before taking up a post at Penryn Secondary Modern where he remained until retirement.

He played for Cornwall as a player on 21 occasions from 1959 until 1970, when his playing career finished he turned to coaching and was involved with Penryn, Falmouth, and St. Ives.

He had a great affinity with the Cornwall supporters, whom he called "Cornwall's 16th man."

A life member of CRFU, in 1994 he was made a bard of the Cornish Gorsedh with the bardic name Map Meler, Son of Mylor.

A spokesperson for CRFU added:

"The President of Cornwall RFU, John Sumnall, and the Management Board of the CRFU wish to express their sincerest condolences to "Benji's" family and friends at this time."

Funeral arrangements, when known, will be published on the CRFU website.

Click here to see more from CRFU.

Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter below to get the top 10 Falmouth stories of the week delivered straight to your inbox every Friday! No click-bait. No intrusive ads. Just news about Falmouth.

[H3] See the latest news on our Twitter and Facebook pages. [.H2]