Amongst the tributes to Mark, the following was from North Midlands Rugby:
North Midlands rugby mourns Mark Keyworth
North Midlands are mourning Mark Keyworth, the former county, Shropshire and England back row forward who died suddenly aged 66.
Keyworth was born and raised in Bridgnorth and played for his hometown club as well as Ellesmere College and the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester.
He played county rugby for Shropshire and North Midlands, traveling back from .his home in Cardiganshire but he played his senior club rugby for Swansea.
Keyworth made 259 times for Swansea between 1972 and 1981 and scored 37 tries. He appeared for the All Whites in tour matches against Romania, New Zealand and Australia twice.
Keyworth’s four caps were won in 1976 with his debut coming against Australia at Twickenham. He played three matches in the Five Nations campaign that followed against Wales and Ireland at Twickenham and Scotland at Murrayfield.
“I had the privilege of working with Mark Keyworth when I was first Match Secretary of North Midlands he was playing in the back row for Swansea at the time and was one of the outstanding players in Welsh rugby,” said Peter Grace, former RFU Council Member for North Midlands.
“Edgar Davies put me in touch with him and he immediately agreed to come training with the county. He was of a Shropshire farmer and had played for Bridgnorth then Aberystwyth.
“In Welsh rugby at the time he was paid very generous expenses but happily accepted our much lower rates without question. We reached the semi-final losing to Middlesex and Mark was capped for England and performed extremely well.
“At the time Moseley were a very strong team and the following year we picked an all Moseley back row despite him still being outstanding for Swansea. He came squad training and was amazingly competitive.
“We got to the Final and Mark was not picked but then Dave Warren’s wife was very poorly on the eve and Dave was very doubtful . I had to phone this International and ask him if he would be on standby. It was a very easy phone call as was the one telling Mark that Dave was able to play.
“He was a great man and brilliant back row forward despite the disadvantage of a hand disability. Not many players were picked for England from Welsh rugby .
“I met him at Bridgnorth a few times and he was the same delightful down to earth man. God bless him.”
Mark Keyworth’s funeral will take place at Llanon Church near Cardigan on Saturday December 6 (12 noon). His have asked that former players attending could please wear club ties.