Laing was well known as a swimming coach but he also coached three senior rugby sides, coached Otago B, was an Otago selector, and also helped out any team that asked.
Laing played 24 games for Taranaki as a prop or lock in 1953-55.
He coached University A, Dunedin and Pirates senior sides.
Pirates stalwart Gary Fulton, who helped coach the senior side from 1988 to 1996 with Laing, said Laing was a knowledgeable coach who never stopped learning about the game.
The year before Laing joined Pirates, the club was bottom of the competition, but climbed to fourth the year after, with Laing on board.
Laing was a coach who believed in long training sessions, and fitness was always important.
Laing was just a good bloke, who wanted to make people better players, Fulton said.
Former Dunedin player Kevin Galliven said Laing was respected by all the players, and training sessions would go until things were perfect.
"He was a very good coach and no-one would have a bad word to say about Duncan," Galliven said.
Former Otago Rugby Football Union chief executive John Hornbrook said Laing was an innovative coach, who often tried different things.
He had once fallen asleep in the changing sheds just before a game when Laurie Mains was giving a team talk.
"I think the players enjoyed it, but I don't know whether the coach did," Hornbrook said.
He said Laing was respected by players, and had a deep knowledge of the game.
