Jack Kyle

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John Wilson Kyle (born 10 February 1926 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a former Irish rugby union footballer. His usual position was at fly-half, where he played for the Irish rugby team, gaining 46 caps in total from 1946 to 1958. In 1999 he was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.

Kyle played in Ireland's first match after the Second World War and guided Ireland to a Five Nations grand slam in 1948. In 1950 he toured with the British Lions to Australia and New Zealand. He played for eight consecutive seasons before injury halted him for a short time in 1954. He returned for the Irish team and went on to become the then most capped player of all time, playing for another four years, spanning his international career with Ireland to 11 years.

Jack Kyle was educated at Belfast Royal Academy and qualified as a medical doctor from Queen's University, Belfast. Following his retirement from club rugby in 1963, he emigrated to Chingola, Zambia (formerly known as Northern Rhodesia) where he worked as a surgeon/medical practitioner until 2000. Upon his retirement as a doctor he returned to Ireland to spend time with his children and grandchildren.

Following his solo try against France at Ravenhill, Belfast in 1953, a newspaper scribe was moved to parody "The Scarlet Pimpernel" with the lines:

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

[edit] External links

• Jack Kyle on rugbyhalloffame.com