Leslie Fi­garo, pres­i­dent of the T&T Rug­by Foot­ball Union (TTR­FU), has de­scribed the death of Ja­cob Thomp­son, chair­man of the Ja­maica Rug­by Union (JRU), as a great loss to Caribbean Rug­by. Fi­garo said Thomp­son, who was found mur­dered at his Cal­abar Mews, Kingston home last Thurs­day, had a deep pas­sion and ded­i­ca­tion for rug­by, Ja­maica, and the use of the sport as a tool to ad­dress the ills and chal­lenges faced by in­ner-city and high risk youth: "Al­ways out­spo­ken, nev­er afraid to speak his mind, and share his thoughts and ideas, his de­ter­mi­na­tion to change the per­cep­tion of rug­by as an elit­ist and ex-pat sport stood out."

"His de­ter­mi­na­tion may have been mis­un­der­stood at times, but the man's love for rug­by and Ja­maica was un­ques­tioned. The trag­ic cir­cum­stances of his death are deeply trou­bling. I ex­tend, on be­half of the TTR­FU, our pro­found con­do­lences to his fam­i­ly, friends and the Ja­maican rug­by fra­ter­ni­ty."