THE tragic loss of “a captain in the truest sense” has left one of Dorset’s largest sports clubs reeling.

Max Biles, 29, the first team captain of North Dorset Rugby Football Club, died suddenly in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Club president Chris Brickell told the Daily Echo he was with his captain just days earlier and had been left devastated by his death, which is thought to have followed a seizure.

“I drove him to the game against Bradford on Avon last Saturday. He was fit and playing – as fit as a flea and in amazing shape.

“I just can’t believe he’s gone. He was a captain in the truest sense – not just the captain of the first team. He was a fabulous bloke who would happily spend time with the youngsters,” said Mr Brickell.

The loss is an especially cruel blow for the Biles family. Max’s father, Col Christopher Biles, the head of military intelligence in Northern Ireland, was killed in 1994 when the Chinook helicopter on which he was travelling crashed on the Mull of Kintyre.

Max joined the club about six years ago, and had played for the first team for the last two years, most recently as a second row forward.

His number four shirt has been taken off its peg and plans are being made to frame it in tribute to its final holder.

The captain’s loss would leave a “huge hole” in the life of the 1100-strong club, said Mr Brickell, who vowed that the funeral would be among the best attended in Dorset.

Max was educated at Clayesmore School near Blandford, where he was head boy, and later at Canford School near Wimborne.

He graduated with honours from Durham University, and worked at Guys Marsh prison near Shaftesbury, leading inmates on an “enhanced thinking skills programme”.

Deputy governor, Steve Hodson, said Max was very professional and very popular, “an all-round decent guy”, who would be missed by staff and inmates alike.

Clive Drake, the president of the Wiltshire and Dorset RFU, described the tragic player as a “renaissance man” whose on-field talent was matched by his ability as a writer.

Max is survived by his mother, Liz, sister, Briony, and brother, Leo, who live in the Gillingham area.

He leaves a partner, Amy, who was with Max during his final hours.

North Dorset RFC’s first, second and third teams will play in cup games today at Mrs Biles’ request.