Education
Kyle was educated at Belfast Royal Academy and studied medicine at Queen"s University, Belfast. He graduated in 1951 and in 1991, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University.
Kyle was educated at Belfast Royal Academy and studied medicine at Queen"s University, Belfast. He graduated in 1951 and in 1991, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University.
Kyle is best known for leading Ireland to a grand slam in the 1948 Five Nations Championship. In 1950, Kyle was declared one of the six players of the year by the New Zealand Rugby Almanac. He was named the Greatest Ever Irish Rugby Player by the Irish Rugby Football Union in 2002.
He was awarded an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1959.
Ireland
Kyle first played for Ireland during the Second World War 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 in the 1947 Five Nations Championship in an 8-12 defeat Landsdowne Road.
Between 1947 and 1958, while playing for Ireland, he went onto make 46 full appearances and score 24 points, including 7 tries. Kyle played in all four games and he is often credited with masterminding Ireland"s success.
Kyle made his last appearance for Ireland against Scotland on 1 March, 1958.
Following a solo try against France at Ravenhill in 1953, an impressed newspaper journalist parodied The Scarlet Pimpernel with the lines:
They seek him here, they seek him thereThose Frenchies seek him everywhere.That paragon of pace and guile,That demned 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.
During the tour, he also scored a try in the 24–3 defeat of Australia. Barbarians
Kyle made eight appearances for the Barbarian F.C."s between 1948 and 1954, scoring three points in total.
After retiring from club rugby in 1963, Kyle embarked on humanitarian work in Sumatra and Indonesia. Between 1966 and 2000, he worked as a consultant surgeon in Chingola, Zambia.
He then returned to Northern Ireland and settled in County Down.
He remained involved in rugby and in 2001, established the Jack Kyle Bursary Fund in support of the Queen"s University Reconstruction Finance Corporation Rugby Academy. Ireland
Five Nations Championship.
In 2007, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Irish Journal of Medical Science and the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. 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. In 1949, he also helped Ireland win the Triple Crown and in 1951, they won the title again. Of the Lions" nine points, Kyle scored a try, created another for Ken Jones and won a penalty that was converted by John Robins. Winner (3): 1948, 1949, 1951.
Kyle is a member of the International Rugby Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Institutional Review Board Hall of Fame before the two halls merged to form the current World Rugby Hall of Fame.
