Joseph Gardiner was captain of Pyle RFC's under-16s team in Bridgend, South Wales.

Family friend Adam Brooke, whose son was Joseph's best friend, told Sky News he was "such a genuine, good kid, a nice kid".

"He had his whole life ahead of him," he said.

He was taken to hospital with a viral infection after he went to the doctor with a "shortness of breath" but later passed away.

Mr Brooke has set up an online fundraiser to raise money to help the family following Joseph's death.

"The support's been absolutely amazing," he said.

"The family, you know. It's to give them, so they're not going to have nothing to actually worry about now.

"They're going to have enough to pay for his funeral, they're going to have enough left over for a gravestone and there'd be enough left over then for a tribute or something to him."

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In a tribute, Pyle RFC said Joseph was a "great young rugby player in the making" and "an absolute credit to his family who loved him very much".

"The good ones always get taken first. But he genuinely was one of the good ones, the most selfless kid you'd ever come across," Mr Brooke added.

"He never asked for nothing. He was just one of those kids, he genuinely was just happy with life."