Gerry Thornley On Rugby: Rarely can one recall the passing of one man leaving such a profound effect on the rugby community. Brian McLoughlin, who passed away last Tuesday, will be missed as much for his company as his influence in Leinster rugby or even his brilliant legal brain.

In all of these ways and more, he has left a void which, it would be widely agreed, cannot be filled; or at any rate not by one person.

As Kieran McLoughlin, the well-known stockbroker and a fellow Blackrock man, once put it, he couldn't think of anyone who didn't like Brian McLoughlin, and nor could he imagine anyone not liking him. Ray McLoughlin, a long-time team-mate and friend from their playing careers at Blackrock together and also unrelated, repeated that remark when speaking at the funeral ceremony last Thursday. There is, as one of those in the huge attendance observed, a tendency to gild the lily on such occasions, but on Friday it was entirely appropriate. Everyone simply agreed, that this was the man they knew.

A lock and sometime number eight in his playing days, who captained Blackrock College to their 50th Leinster Senior Schools' Cup triumph in 1964, despite being in a pack of leaders and celebrated players, he had three separate stints as captain of Blackrock's senior club side.

"He was a very, very good captain, tactically astute, a very measured kind of guy and a good communicator," agrees another former team-mate, Dr Michael "Bomber" Browne. "He wasn't given to outbursts of temper, unlike some you might come across. A wonderful guy, and a huge loss.

"There were so many facets to his character, his sense of fun, his sense of humour, he was a good athlete and a terrific guy socially. He was a hoot," adds Browne. "Every character attribute you'd like someone to have, he had it. It's as simple as that."

One party piece was juggling three or four eggs, which invariably broke but the routine never lost its humour.

A natural athlete, Brian McLoughlin also represented Blackrock as a 400 metres runner at schools level and won a senior cup medal in cricket. Ray McLoughlin describes him as a skilful, athletic and fast player and it was inevitable McLoughlin would bring his leadership skills and analytical mind to coaching at both Blackrock and later Leinster from 1990 to 1992.

"He was always a terrific sports enthusiast," recalls Ray McLoughlin. "He would be interested in two snails having a race. I frequently went to his home to watch major sporting events and he would often dress up appropriately for the occasion. For example when Bjorn Borg was going for one of his five Wimbledon titles, Brian dressed up as Borg with a wig and false beard. Another time he dressed up as the darts player Jocky Wilson, with a pillow stuffed up his jumper. He always had a great sense of fun."

In 1981 a group of friends whose friendships had been formed in Blackrock, including Brian and Ray McLoughlin, Mick Doyle, Niall Brophy, Andy Butler and their respective girlfriends or wives, went to Morocco on holiday. They had been training on the mountains, were quite fit and fancied themselves as runners. So they decided to have a 10k race with three other European holidaymakers in the same resort at 5pm when the heat had relented one day.

Lining up full of confidence alongside what they thought were three anaemic looking men, they were soon run into the ground and had to stop for fear of collapsing. Brian McLoughlin found it more amusing than anyone to discover that amongst their opponents they'd been racing the French 10,000 metres champion and Belgian cross-country champion.

He was also quite a good golfer, although would be the last to maintain so and, in this, as in much else, could be quite self-deprecating about it. Ray McLoughlin recalls asking Brian once how he'd fared on the course one day. "Apart from yourself Mac, I'm the only person I know who can hit the ball off the first tee in Killiney and finish up looking for it in Stradbrook."

Having taken a BA degree at UCD and taught at Blackrock College, Brian McLoughlin studied law and set up what became a thriving legal practice in Bray. He applied his legal skills and rugby knowledge to become one of the foremost figures in the sport's judiciary and disciplinary procedures, being selected as one of the commissioners at the 2003 World Cup where he was widely perceived to be without peer. Apparently, he never lost a case when defending Leinster or Irish players at disciplinary hearings, having David Holwell's only red card rescinded and ensuring Paul O'Connell escaped a ban for Munster in the Heineken European Cup after being cited in Wales' Grand Slam victory in Cardiff for fighting.

You'd never have thought it, because he never, ever hogged the headlines or any attention, but he was also hugely influential as the chairman of Leinster's management committee, which effectively ran the professional end of the game.

"He never looked for acclaim or material gain, he just had a desire to do something well for people he was responsible for," explains Ray McLoughlin. "He was never a man to rush to judgment, and was always very fair and balanced. He could be a role model for any young man, and I absolutely believe that."

He is survived by his wife Vonnie, daughters Kyra and Lynn, and son Stephen who, when asked to write an essay about his sporting hero in fifth class in Willow Park, declined to follow the trend of eulogising George Best, Mike Gibson or whomever, but instead wrote about his dad.

In person, Brian McLoughlin was always a genuinely nice, friendly, good-humoured man.Paul McNaughton, the former Leinster team manager who worked in tandem with McLoughlin and is now the new chairman of the management committee, comments: "He was very, very effective in what he did, and as a rugby man and a lawyer, he was incredibly measured with a great social conscience."

That Gary Ella's appointment didn't quite work out, or that Leinster became embroiled in a run of four coaches in four years (even if Matt Williams reign was a success and Declan Kidney's departure was unexpected), Brian took somewhat personally. Hence, he strove to make sure the next appointment, Michael Cheika, was the correct one. In this, as in much, much else, he has left a lasting legacy.