John Wilson Kyle (10 February 1926 – 27 November 2014), most commonly known as Jack Kyle, was a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who represented

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

and the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

during the 1940s and 1950s. Kyle was a member of the Irish team that won the grand slam in the 1948 Five Nations Championship.Van Esbeck, Edmund
"A day and a team etched in the annals – 1948: Ireland's Grand Slam. The Ravenhill climax"
''Irish Times''. In 1950, Kyle was declared one of the six players of the year by the ''New Zealand Rugby Almanac''.Kyle bio at Lions web site
Kyle is a member of the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF accepted ...

and was inducted into the IRB Hall of FameBio at International Rugby Hall of Fame
Archive.is. Retrieved on 10 July 2018. before the two halls merged to form the current World Rugby Hall of Fame. He was named the ''Greatest Ever Irish Rugby Player'' by the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) () is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where a ...

in 2002. Kyle was educated at Belfast Royal Academy and studied medicine at

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. He graduated in 1951 and, in 1991, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university. In 2007, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the ''Irish Journal of Medical Science'' and the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland."Medical 'Oscar' for rugby's Jack Kyle", Lesley-Anne Henry, 1 February 2007, Belfast Telegraph
/ref> He received an OBE in 1959.

Rugby international

Ireland

Kyle first played for

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in a friendly against a British Army XV. However, no caps were awarded. He made his official debut for Ireland on 25 January 1947 against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the 1947 Five Nations Championship in an 8–12 defeat

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium (, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on ...

. Between

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

and 1958, while playing for Ireland, he went on to make 46 full appearances and score 24 points, including 7 tries. The highlight of his Ireland career came during the 1948 Five Nations Championship when, together with Karl Mullen and Mick O'Flanagan, he helped Ireland win a grand slam. Kyle played in all four games and he is often credited with masterminding Ireland's success. In

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

, he also helped Ireland win the Triple Crown and in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

, they won the title again. Kyle made his last appearance for Ireland against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 1 March 1958. Following a solo try against

at Ravenhill in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, an impressed newspaper journalist parodied ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with her husband Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in Lo ...

'' with the lines:

''They seek him here, they seek him there''
''Those Frenchies seek him everywhere''.
''That paragon of pace and guile'',
''That damned elusive Jackie Kyle''.

British and Irish Lions

In 1950, Kyle also played for the British Lions on their tour to New Zealand and Australia. He played in 20 of the 29 games, including all six Tests. Among his tour highlights was a display that came in the first Test, a 9–9 draw with

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Of the Lions' nine points, Kyle scored a try, created another for Ken Jones and won a penalty that was converted by John Robins. During the tour, he also scored a try in the 24–3 defeat of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Barbarians

Kyle made eight appearances for the

Barbarian F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians, is a Great Britain, British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitatio ...

's between 1948 and 1954, scoring three points in total.

Later years

After retiring from club rugby in 1963, Kyle embarked on humanitarian work in

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. Between 1966 and 2000, he worked as a consultant

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

in Chingola, Zambia. He then returned to Northern Ireland and settled in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. He remained involved in rugby and in 2001, established the Jack Kyle Bursary Fund in support of the Queen's University RFC Rugby Academy. Kyle died on 28 November 2014 after a prolonged illness and is survived by his son Caleb, daughter Justine and nephew David."Ireland legend Jack Kyle dies at 88"
Rte.ie (28 November 2014). Retrieved on 2018-07-10.

Honours

Ireland * Five Nations Championship **''Winner'' (3):

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kyle, Jack 1926 births 2014 deaths World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Ireland national rugby union team captains Queen's University RFC players North of Ireland F.C. players Ulster Rugby players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union fly-halves People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Surgeons from Northern Ireland Officers of the Order of the British Empire Rugby union players from Belfast Medical doctors from Belfast