To many it seems fitting today’s influx of Australian Rugby Union representatives and Waratahs past and present – due to their pre-season match with Samoa tonight – will coincide with Mr Latimer’s family and friends gathering to pay tribute to their Wallaby and “all-round great”.

Mr Latimer, 81, passed away peacefully on the Gold Coast last Thursday.

While he is well-known to many through his successes in cattle farming and racehorses, many also know him as the former Wallaby who ran on in the green and gold against the All Blacks in the 1957 Bledisloe Cup match played in Brisbane.

Today at 11am those lucky enough to cross paths with Mr Latimer will gather at St Paul’s Anglican Church in West Tamworth to pay their respects.

Former Wallaby Tom Bowman was among some of the former greats to pay tribute to him earlier this week.

Mr Bowman spoke of his sorrow at the loss of a “great man”.

Mr Bowman, who now runs his family’s property, Tarpolly, in Barraba, is also a Latimer family friend.

“He was always the life of the party and he always had a smile on his face.”

Mr Latimer began his climb to Wallaby heights after playing representative rugby union for Gordon in Sydney where he was scouted to play for Australia.

Along with his success in rugby, Mr Latimer gained accolades off the field through his successes in horse racing and cattle farming.

He owned several champion racehorses, including well-known local racing greats, Akwintana and Akwazoff, both of whom were two of the most popular horses to race in NSW in the past 20 years.

Before developing a life-long love of cattle farming Mr Latimer, an avid tea drinker, found success in coffee farming in Papua New Guinea.

He soon realised his heart was in the paddock and cattle became not just his livelihood, but his passion. He owned two local properties, Glen Barra, Kingstown and Mornington, at Moore Creek, and part of Galloway, a property in Queensland.

He is survived by a family including eight children and eight grandchildren.