Jack Kyle

Jack Kyle
Kyle in 1950
Birth nameJohn Wilson Kyle
Date of birth(1926-02-10)10 February 1926
Place of birthBelfast, Northern Ireland
Date of death28 November 2014(2014-11-28) (aged 88)
Place of deathBryansford, Northern Ireland
SchoolBelfast Royal Academy
UniversityQueen's University, Belfast
Rugby union career
Position(s) Out-half
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
Queen's University
North of Ireland
()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
Ulster ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1946–1958
1950
1948–1954[1]
Ireland
British and Irish Lions
Barbarians
46
6
8
0(24)
0(6)
0(3)

John Wilson Kyle OBE (10 February 1926 – 27 November 2014), most commonly known as Jack Kyle, was a rugby union player who represented Ireland, the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians during the 1940s and 1950s.[2] Kyle was a member of the Irish team that won the grand slam in the 1948 Five Nations Championship.[3] In 1950, Kyle was declared one of the six players of the year by the New Zealand Rugby Almanac.[4] Kyle is a member of the International Rugby Hall of Fame and was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame[5][6] 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 in 2002.[7]

Kyle was educated at Belfast Royal Academy and studied medicine at Queen's University Belfast. He graduated in 1951 and, in 1991, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university.[8] In 2007, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Irish Journal of Medical Science and the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.[9] He received an OBE in 1959.[10]

  1. ^ Starmer-Smith, Nigel (1977) The Barbarians. Macdonald & Jane's Publishers. p. 225. ISBN 0-86007-552-4
  2. ^ Jack Kyle. www.barbarianfc.co.uk. Retrieved on 10 July 2018.
  3. ^ Van Esbeck, Edmund. "A day and a team etched in the annals – 1948: Ireland's Grand Slam. The Ravenhill climax". Irish Times.
  4. ^ Kyle bio at Lions web site Archived 3 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Bio at International Rugby Hall of Fame. Archive.is. Retrieved on 10 July 2018.
  6. ^ "IRB Hall of Fame Welcomes Five Inductees". International Rugby Board. 23 November 2008. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
  7. ^ Kyle named as Greatest Ever Irish Rugby Player. irishrugby.ie (5 May 2002). Retrieved on 2018-07-10.
  8. ^ Golden Jubilee Reunion 2008. Queen's University Belfast.
  9. ^ "Medical 'Oscar' for rugby's Jack Kyle", Lesley-Anne Henry, 1 February 2007, Belfast Telegraph
  10. ^ "Former Ireland rugby union player Jack Kyle dies aged 88". Guardian. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.