Jack Kyle
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. Kyle was a member of the Irish team that won the 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. Kyle is a member of the International Rugby Hall of Fame and was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame 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.
Kyle in 1950 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | John Wilson Kyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 10 February 1926 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 28 November 2014 (aged 88) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Bryansford, Northern Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Belfast Royal Academy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Queen's University, Belfast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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. In 2007, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Irish Journal of Medical Science and the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. He received an OBE in 1959.